ANECDOTES 

SELECTED FROM 

THE LIVES OF PLUTARCH, 

BY 

CEDRICK. 

TO WHICH IS ADDED 

8 tan itabemle dfcagmnttg 

BY THE AUTHOR. 

itoitiion : 

PRINTED FOR WRIGHT AND SON, 45, BROAD STREET 
BLOOMSBURY j AND J. FOYNTON, KNIGHT SB RIDGE . 



1825. 



W. M. Thiselton, Printer, Goodge Street 



PREFACE. 



Desirous of engaging in the literary 
world, and anxious to add one to the 
innumerable scribblers of the day. the 
Author (quamvis minimus minimi) 
has ventured to submit these Anec- 
dotes to the Public ; and should they 
be so fortunate as to be found capable 
of killing an idle hour, they will fully 
repay his expectations. 

The celebrated lives, from which he 
has made choice of these sentiments, 
are so universal, so general a compa- 
nion of the library, thathe has carefully 



PREFACE. 

avoided swelling the book with notes 
or observations: — since, should a re- 
ference be required, the lives will 
afford it. 

An admirer himself of Plutarch, 
whose simplicity and impartiality de- 
servedly attach him to every reader, 
he has in the course of his historical 
journey culled a few flowers; — and 
having bound them together, now pre- 
sents them to the reader. 

The Author would not have per- 
mitted the Fragments, w hich conclude 
the work, to have wandered beyond 
the confines of his desk, had he not 
been requested to insert them. 



PREFACE. 

Their foundation is a young Ima- 
gination. — the only basis on which 
hopes may be built for a mild judg- 
ment. 

Many faults and inaccuracies will 
meet the reader's eye, for they are 
the same (with the exception of a 
trifling alteration) as when they were 
first composed. 



March 81, 1825. 



Sttfflrotf to tbt mntitv. 



Gay fields of Fancy wav'd before my sight ; 
Young Emulation spread her wings for flight ; 
Imagination ventur'd too to roam, 
Far from the sterile precincts of her home ; 
Hope lur'd them on these novel scenes to try, 
Replete with beauty and variety : 
Philosophy and Logic there were found 
To trail their branches o'er the fruitful ground ; 
There History grew, with many a blithsome flow'r, 
Sown by the hand of Intellectual Pow'r : 
Amongst the group a Flower caught their eye — 
They sought its name — its name was Poetry : 
A sprout they seiz'd, and, leaving all behind, 
This deeply grafted in the youthful mind — 
Behold the harvest — lo ! the dear reward, — 
A few poor Fragments — and the name of Bard. 
If taste or talent sanction — then commend ; 
But spare the Author, Critic, in the Friend. 



BY THE AUTHOR, 

June 30th, 1825. 



ANECDOTES, 
&c. 



I. Plutarch, in his political precepts, 
mentions one instance of his father's dis- 
cretion which does him great honour: — 
" I remember," says he, " that I was sent, 
when a very young man, along with another 
citizen of Choeronea, upon an embassy to the 
pro-consul. My colleague being by some 
accident obliged to stop in the way, I pro- 
ceeded without him, and executed our 
commission. Upon my return to Choeronea, 
when I was to give an account in public of 
my negociation, my father took me aside, 
and said, 6 My son, take care that in the 
account which you are about to give, you 

B 



2 ANECDOTES. 

do not mention yourself distinctly, but 
jointly with your colleague. Say not, ( I 
went/ ' I spoke,' e I executed ;' but c we 
went,' 6 we spoke,' e we executed.' Thus, 
though your colleague was incapable of 
attending you, he will share in the honour of 
your success, as well as in that of your ap- 
pointment ; and you will avoid that envy 
which necessarily follows all arrogated merit." 



II. Elatus, who when his wife upbraided 
him, that he would leave the regal power to 
his children less than he received it, replied, 
Cf Nay, greater, because more lasting." 



III. It is related of a king of Pontus, that 
he purchased a Lacedaemonian cook, for the 
sake of his broth ! but when he came to taste 
it, he strongly expressed his dislike ; upon 



ANECDOTES. 3 

which the cook answered, " Sir, in order to 
relish this broth, it is necessary first to bathe 
in the Eurotas."* 



* Lycurgus being desir ous of completing the conquest 
of luxury, and to exterminate the love of riches intro- 
duced a third institution, which was the use of public tables, 
where all were to eat in common of the same meat ap- 
pointed by law : — the black broth was one of the dishes. 

Xenophon seems to have penetrated farther into the 
reason of this Institution than any other author. The 
rest only say, that it was intended to repress luxury < 
but he very wisely remarks, " That it was also intended 
to serve for a kind of school where the young were in- 
structed by the old, the latter relating the great things 
that had been performed within their memory, and thus 
exciting the growing generation to distinguish themselves 
by performances equally honourable. 

These repasts were called by the Cretans Andria ; but 
the Lacedaemons styled them Phiditia, either from their 
tendency to ' friendship' and mutual benevolence, phiditia 
being used instead of philitia ; or else from their teach- 
ing frugality and f parsimony,' which the word pheido 
signifies. It is possible that the first letter might by 
some means or other be added j and so phiditia take 
place of editia, which barely signifies ' eating.' — vide 
Life °f Lycurgus, pages 115 — 1 7. 

b2 



4 ANECDOTES. 

IV, When Leotychides the elder was one 
evening supping at Corinth, he asked his 
host, seeing the ceiling of the room most 
splendidly and curiously wrought, " Whe- 
ther trees grew square in his country ?" 



V. Gorgo, the wife of Leonidas, is said to 
have uttered ; when a woman of another 
country remarked to her, " You of Lace- 
daemon are the only women in the world 
that rule the men ;" " We are the only 
women that bring forth men/' 



VI. King Agis, when a certain Athenian 
laughed at the Lacedaemonian short swords, 
and said, " The jugglers upon the stage 
would swallow them with ease ;" answered 
thus laconically, — " Nevertheless we can 
reach our enemies' hearts with them." 



ANECDOTES, O 

VII. When Lycurgus was asked what 
sort of martial exercises he allowed, he 
answered, " All, except those in which you 
stretch out your hands." 



VIII. Lycurgus being asked whether 
Sparta should be enclosed with walls ? re- 
plied, (C That city is well fortified, which 
has a wall of men instead of brick." 



IX. Charilaus, the nephew of Lycurgus, 
being asked why his uncle had made so few 
laws, answered, ff To men of few words, 
few laws are sufficient." 



X. Some people finding fault with He- 
catseus the sophist, because when admitted 
to one of the public repasts he did not utter 
a single syllable, Archidamus replied — 



6 ANECDOTES. 

ee He who knows how to speak, knows also 
when to speak." 



XI. Archidamus being askedj what 
number of men were in Sparta, replied, 
" Enough to keep bad men at a distance." 



XII. " A large head of hair (observes 
the Spartan lawgiver) makes the handsome 
more graceful, and the ugly more terrible." 



XIII. A Lacedaemonian, when large sums 
of money were offered him on condition that 
he would not enter the Olympic lists, refused 
them. This man, after he had with much 
difficulty thrown his antagonist, was asked ; 
" Spartan what will you gain by this 
victory ?" He answered with a smile, " I 
shall have the honour of fighting foremost 
in the ranks before my prince." 



ANECDOTES. 7 

XIV. Argileonis, the mother of Brasidas, 
inquiring of some Amphipolitans that waited 
upon her at her house, whether Brasidas 
had died honourably and as became a Spar- 
tan ; they loudly extolled his merit, and 
said there was not such a man left in Sparta : 
upon which she replied, " Say not so, my 
friends ; for Brasidas was indeed a man of 
honour, but Lacedsemon can boast of many 
better men than he." 



XV. Plato observes concerning govern- 
ment : " That the only sure prospect of 
deliverance from the evils of life will be 
when the divine Providence shall so order 
it, that the coincidence of philosophy and 
regal power shall render virtue triumphant 
over vice." 



XVI. A good man indeed, observes Plu- 



8 ANECDOTES, 

tareh, and a valuable member of society, 
should neither set his heart upon super- 
fluities, nor reject the use of what is necessary 
and convenient. 



XVII. Solon's friends observing to him 
amongst other reasons, that if he rejected 
the monarchy from a fear of the name of 
' Tyrant,'* he would appear as deficient in 
courage ; he made this reply — " Absolute 
monarchy is a fair field, but it has no outlet." 



XVIII. Pittacus, one of the seven wise 
men of Greece, made himself master of 
Mitylene ; for which Alcaeus, who was one 



* The word Tyrant was frequently applied by the 
ancients instead of King. 



ANECDOTES. 9 

of the same town, contemporary with Pit- 
tacus and (as a poet) a friend to liberty, 
satirised him, as he did the other tyrants. 
Pittacus disregarded his censures; and 
having by his authority quelled the seditions 
of his citizens, and established peace and 
harmony among them, he voluntarily quitted 
his power, and restored his country to its 
liberty. Forced however, in his old age, by 
the unanimous suffrages of his fellow-citizens 
to resume the helm, he pronounced the 
memorable maxim, that " virtue is not 
without her incumberance." After accom- 
plishing the purpose for which he had been 
recalled to his high post, he again descended 
into the vale of private life.* 



* He was a native of Mitylene in Lesbos. His father's 
name was Cyrradius. He died in the eighty-second 
year of his age, about 570 years before Christ, 1 10 years 
after L. Q. Cincinnatus, a Roman whose conduct was 
similar to Pittacus'. 



10 ANECDOTES. 

XIX. Solon being asked, " What city 
was best modelled ?" he answered, " That, 
where those who are not injured, are as ready- 
to prosecute and punish offenders, as those 
who are." 



XX. Dionysius, when his mother desired 
him to be married to a young Syracusan, 
told her ; " He had indeed by his tyranny 
violated the laws of his country, but he 
could not violate those of nature, by coun- 
tenancing so disproportionate a match." 



XXI. Solon in his interview with Croesus 
after having been an eye witness of all his 
wealth and riches, was asked by the king, 
" If he had ever beheld a happier man than 
himself 1" Solon answered, "he had; and 
that was one Tellus, a plain but worthy 
citizen of Athens, who left valuable children 



ANECDOTES. 11 

behind him ; and who, having been above 
the want of necessaries during his whole 
life, died gloriously fighting for his country." 
He asked him, however again ; " Whether, 
aftur Tcllus, he knew any other happier 
man ? M To which Solon replied, " Yes, 
Cleobis and Biton, famed for their brotherly 
affection, and their dutiful behaviour to their 
mother ; for the oxen not being ready, they 
put themselves in the harness, and drew 
their mother, happy in having such sons 
and hailed by the acclamations of the people, 
to Juno's temple. After the sacrifice they 
drank a cheerful cup with their friends, and 
then laid down to rest, but rose no more ; 
having expired in the night without sorrow 
or pain, in the midst of all their glory." 



XXII. When Pisistratus had seized the 
citadel, and the city was in great confusion, 



12 anecdotes. 

Megacles with the rest of the Alcmaeonidse 
immediately took to flight. But Solon, 
though he was now very old and had none 
to second him, appeared in public, and ad- 
dressed himself to the citizens ; sometimes 
upbraiding them with their past indiscretion 
and cowardice, and sometimes exhorting 
and encouraging them to stand up for their 
liberty. Then it was, that he spoke those 
memorable words, " It would have before 
been easier for them to repress the advances 
of tyranny, and prevent its establishment ; 
but now,, that it was established, and grown 
to some height, it would be more glorious 
to demolish it." Finding however that their 
fears prevented their attending to what he 
said, he returned to his own house, and 
placed his weapons at the street door with 
these words, " I have done all in my power 
to defend my country and its laws." This 
was his last public effort. 



ANECDOTES. 13 

XXIII. Pyrrhus in the intercourse of life 
was mild, and not easily provoked, but 
ardent and quick to repay a kindness. For 
this reason, he was deeply afflicted at the 
death of Eropus : " His friend," he said, 
" had only paid the tribute to nature ; but 
he blamed and reproached himself for having 
put off his acknowledgements, till by these 
delays he had lost the opportunity of making 
any return. For those that owe money, 
can pay it to the heirs of the deceased ; but 
when a return of kindness is not made to a 
person in his life-time, it grieves the heart 
that has in it any goodness and honour." 



XXIV. Pyrrhus being asked one day by 
one of his children, " To which of them he 
would leave his kingdom ?" he replied, " to 
him, who has the sharpest sword." 



14 ANECDOTES. 

XXV. The Epirots on a certain occasion 
having given him the name of 6 Eagle/ he 
said, " If I am an eagle, you have made me 
one ; for it is upon your army as upon wings, 
that I have risen so high." 



XXVI. A Macedonian named Leonatus, 
observed an Italian horseman very intent 
upon Pyrrhus, in an engagement with the 
Romans, changing his post, and regulating 
all his motions of every kind by those of 
the king. Upon which he rode up and said 
to him ; "Do you see, sir, that barbarian 
upon the black horse with white feet ? he 
seems to meditate some dreadful design. 
Full of fire and spirit, he keeps you in his 
eye, singles you out, and takes no notice of 
any body else : therefore be on your guard 
against him." Pyrrhus answered: "It is 
impossible, Leonatus, to avoid our destiny." 



ANECDOTES. 15 

XXVII. During Sylla's stay at Athens, 
he felt a painful and heavy numbness in his 
feet, which Strabo calls ' the lisping of the 
gout.' This obliged him to sail to iEdepsus, 
for the benefit of the warm baths, where he 
lounged away the day with mimics and 
buffoons, and all the train of Bacchus. One 
day, as he was walking by the sea-side, some 
fishermen presented him with a curious dish 
of fish. Delighted with the present, he 
asked the people of what country they were, 
and when he heard they were Alceans, 
" What," said he, " are any of the Alceans 
then alive ?" For after his victory at Oreho- 
menus, in taking vengeance upon his enemies 
he had -raised three cities of Bcetia, Anthe- 
don, Larymna, and Alxce. The poor men 
were struck dumb with fear, but he told 
them with a smile ; " they might go away 
perfectly happy, for they had brought very 
respectable mediators with them." 



16 ANECDOTES. 

XXVIII. It is said that when Jugurtha 
was led before the car of the conqueror, he 
lost his senses. After the triumph he was 
thrown into prison; where, while they were 
in haste to strip him, some tore his robe off 
his back, and others catching eagerly at his 
pendants pulled off the tips of his ears along 
with them. When he was thrust down 
naked into the dungeon, all confused, he 
said with a frantic smile, " Heavens ! how 
cold is this bath of yours !" 



XXIX. Marius having suffered the enemy 
to draw a line about him, to ridicule and 
challenge him to the combat, without being 
in the least exasperated by it, it is reported 
that Pompedius Silo, an officer of the highest 
eminence and authority among the allies, 
said to him, "If you are a great general, 
Marius, come down and fight us to which 



ANECDOTES. 17 

he answered^ " if you are a great general, 
Silo, make me come down and fight." 



XXX. Pomponius, a man of some dig- 
nity, was wounded and taken in the battle 
between Lucullus and Mithridates near the 
river Lycus, in which the Romans were 
defeated Though much indisposed with 
his wounds, he was brought before Mithri- 
dates, who asked him ; " Whether, if he 
saved his life, he would become his friend ?" 
es On condition that you will be reconciled 
to the Romans," said he, " I will ; but, if 
not, I must still remain your enemy." The 
king, struck with admiration of his pa- 
triotism, did him no injury. 



XXXI. Rhcesaces, a barbarian who had 

revolted from the king of Persia, and was 
c 



18 ANECDOTES. 

come to Athens with great treasures, finding 
himself harassed by informers, applied to 
Cimon for his protection ; and in order to 
gain his favour placed two cups, the one full 
of gold, and the other of silver darics, # in 
his anti-chamber. Cimon, casting his eye 
upon them, smiled and asked him, " Whe- 
ther he would choose to have him his 
mercenary, or his friend ?" " My friend 
undoubtedly," replied the barbarian. " Go 
then," said Cimon, " and take these things 
back with you ; for, if I be your friend, 
your money will be mine, whenever I have 
occasion for it." 



XXXII. When Cimon returned from 
assisting the Lacedaemonians, he marched 
with his army through Corinth. Lachartus 



* Daricus, a Dario rege Persarum diet, valebat 4 
drachmas auri Alticas, 40 argenti. 



ANECDOTES. 19 

complained in high terms of his introducing 
his troops, without permission from the 
citizens : " For," said he, u when we knock 
at another man's door, we do not enter 
without leave from the master." " You, 
Lachartus, however," answered Cimon, " did 
not knock at the gates of Cleone, and Me- 
gara, but broke them in pieces, and forced 
your way upon this principle, that nothing 
should be shut against the strong." With 
this proper confidence did he reply to the 
Corinthian, and then pursued his march. 



XXXIII. Metellus, though his friends 
exhorted and entreated him to comply, and 
not expose himself to those dreadful penal- 
ties which Saturninus had provided for 
nonjurors, did not shrink from the dignity 
of his resolution, or take the oath. That 

illustrious man abode by his principles ; he 
c2 



20 ANECDOTES. 

was ready to suffer the greatest calamities, 
rather than do a dishonourable thing ; and 
as he quitted the forum, he said to those 
about him, " To do an ill action is base : to 
do a good one, which involves you in no 
danger, is nothing more than common: 
but it is the property of a virtuous man to 
do good ones, though he risks every thing 
by doing them/' 



XXXIV. The chamber, in which Marius 
lay, was somewhat gloomy ; and a light, 
they say, glanced from Marius' eyes upon 
the face of the assassin ; while at the same 
time he heard a solemn voice, saying, 
" Dost thou dare to kill Marius ?" Upon this 
the assassin threw down his sword and fled, 
crying, "I cannot kill Marius." This 
circumstance ensured his safety. 



ANECDOTES. 21 

XXXV, The Roman governor in Africa 
was Sextilius. He had neither received 
favour nor injury from Marius, but the exile 
hoped something from his pity. He was 
just landed with a few of his men, when an 
officer came up and thus addressed him : — 
u Marius, the praetor Sextilius forbids you 
to set foot in Africa. If you do not obey, 
he will support the senate's decree, and 
treat you as a public enemy." Marius upon 
hearing this, was struck dumb with grief 
and indignation. He uttered not a word 
for some time, but stood regarding the officer 
with a menacing aspect. At length the 
officer asked him, ie What answer he should 
carry back to the governor ?" " Tell him," 
said the unfortunate man with a deep sigh, 
" that thou hast seen the exiled Marius 
sitting upon the ruins of Carthage." Thus, 
in the happiest manner in the world, he 
proposed the fate of that city and his own 
as warnings to the praetor. 



22 ANECDOTES. 

XXXVI. After much search, Alexander s 
horsemen found Darius extended on his 
chariot, and pierced with many darts. 
Though he was near his last moment, how- 
ever, he had strength to ask for something 
to quench his thirst. A Macedonian, named 
Poly stratus, brought him some cold water 5 
and when he had drank, he said, " Friend, 
this fills up the measure of my misfortunes, 
to think that I am not able to reward thee 
for this act of kindness. But Alexander 
will not suffer thee to go without a recom- 
pense ; and the gods will reward Alexander 
for his humanity to my mother, my wife, 
and my children. Tell him I give him my 
hand, for I give it thee in ' his stead.' So 
saying, he took the hand of Polystratus, and 
immediately expired. 



XXXVII. Chares of Mitylene tells us, 
that Alexander at one of his entertainments, 



ANECDOTES. 23 

after he had drank, reached the cup to one 
of his friends ; who on receiving it rose up, 
and turning toward the hearth (where stood 
the domestic gods) to drink, first worshipped, 
and then kissed Alexander. This done, he 
took his place again at table, All the guests 
did the same in this order, except Callis- 
thenes. When it came to his turn, he 
drank and then approached to give the king 
a kiss, who being engaged in some discourse 
with Hephcestion, happened not to notice 
him. But Demetrius, surnamed Phidon, 
cried out, " Don't receive his kiss ; for he 
alone has not adored you." Upon which, 
Alexander refused it, and Callisthenes said 
aloud, " Then I return a kiss the poorer." 



XXXVIII. When Porus was taken pri- 
soner, Alexander asked him, " How he 
wished to be treated ?" He answered, u Like 



24 ANECDOTES. 

a king." " And have you nothing else to 
request ?" demanded Alexander. 6( No," 
said he, c( every thing is comprehended in 
the word, king." Alexander immediately 
restored him his own dominions, and an- 
nexed to them very extensive territories. 



XXXIX. When Alexander took the ten 
Gymnosophists, who had been principally 
concerned in instigating Sabbas to revolt, 
and had involved the Macedonians in many 
other distresses, he proposed to them the 
most difficult questions which could be de- 
vised, and at the same time declared that he 
would put to death the first that answered 
wrong, and after him all the rest. The 
oldest man among them was to be judge. 

He demanded of the first, « Which were 
most numerous, the living or the dead ?" 



ANECDOTES. 25 

He answered, cc The living ; for the dead 
no longer exist." 

The second was asked, (C Whether the 
earth, or the sea, produced the largest ani- 
mals ?! He answered, "The earth ; for the 
sea is part of it." 

The third, " Which was the craftiest of 
all animals ?" " That," said he, « with 
which man is not yet acquainted." 

The fourth, " What was his reason for 
persuading Sabbas to revolt ?" " Because," 
said he, " I wished him either to live as a 
brave man, or to die like a coward." 

The fifth, " Which do you think oldest, 
the day or the night ?" He answered, " The 
day, by one day." As the king appeared 
surprised at this solution, the philosopher 



26 ANECDOTES. 

told him, " Abstruse questions must have 
abstruse answers." 

Then addressing himself to the sixth, he 
inquired, iC What are the best means for a 
man to make himself loved ?" he replied, 
" If possessed of great power, not to make 
himself feared." 

The seventh was asked, " How a man 
might become a god ?" He answered, " By- 
doing what it is impossible for man to do." 

The eighth, " Which is strongest, life or 
death ?" u Life," said he, " because it bears 
so many evils." 

The last question that he put was, " How 
long is it good for a man to live ?" " As 
long," replied the philosopher, " as he does 
not prefer death to life." 



ANECDOTES. 27 

XL. When Caesar was in Spain, be be- 
stowed some leisure hours on reading part of 
the history of Alexander, and was so much 
affected by it, that he sat pensive a long 
time, and at last burst into tears. As his 
friends were wondering what might be the 
reason, he said ; " Do you think I have not 
sufficient cause for concern, when Alexander 
at my age reigned over so many conquered 
countries, aad I have not a single proud 
achievement to boast?" # 



XLI. When Caesar approached the doors 
of the treasury, and the keys were not pro- 



* This was an exclamation of regret, worthy Julius 
Caesar: and, oh! that the minds of men were now so 
influenced by the noble actions of their ancestors, as to 
shake off the present too fashionable inactivity ; and be 
stimulated to perform actions, more becoming their fathers 
and themselves. But the days of emulation are gone by, 
and England is in her most flourishing prosperity ! 



28 ANECDOTES. 

duced, he sent for workmen to break them 
open. Metellus again opposed him, and 
some praised his firmness; but Caesar with 
an elevated voice threatened to put him to 
death, if he gave him any farther trouble. 
" And, young man," said he, " you know 
very well, that this is harder for me to say, 
than to do." At these words Metellus retired. 



XLII. On the night when Caesar under- 
took to sail to Brundusium, though the 
elite my 's fleet covered the sea, the river 
becoming extremely rough, and the billows 
forming such dangerous eddies, the pilot 
despaired of making good his passage, and 
ordered the mariners to turn back. Caesar 
perceiving this rose up, and showing himself 
to the pilot, who was greatly surprised at the 



ANECDOTES. 29 

sight of him 3 said; K Go forward, my friend, 
and fear nothing : thou carriest Caesar and 
Caesars' s fortune in thy vessel." 



XLIII. When Caesar was going to put 
his troops in motion at the memorable battle 
of Pharsalia, he saw a trusty and experienced 
centurion encouraging his men to distinguish 
themself that day. Caesar called him by 
his name, and said, "What cheer, Caius 
Crassinius ? How do we stand, think you r" 
" Caesar," said the veteran in a bold accent, 
and stretching out his hand, " the victory 
is ours. It will be a glorious one ; and this 
day I shall have your praise either alive or 
dead." After extraordinary feats of bravery, 
one of his antagonists pushed his sword with 
such force into his mouth, that the point 
came out at the nape of his neck. 



30 

ANECDOTES. 

XLIV. In an engagement in which Caesar's 
men were put to flight, he took an ensign, 
who was running away, by the neck, and 
making him face about said, " Look on this 
side for the enemy." 

Another time, at the famous battle of 
Munda when Pompeys' sons commanded 
the enemy, Caesar in the beginning saw his 
men so hard pressed, and making so feeble 
a resistance, that he rushed through the 
ranks amidst the swords and spears, crying, 
" Are you not ashamed to deliver your ge- 
neral into the hands of boys ?" # This, at last 
produced the desired effect. As he retired, 
however, after the battle, he told his friends, 
" He had often fought for victory, but that 



* The sarcastic and opprobious appellation of ' boys,' 
ill accords with the observation he made on retiring from 
the battle, as the anecdote will show. 



ANECDOTES. 31 

was the first time in which he had fought 
for his life." 



XLV, When Antony and Dolabella 
were accused of some designs against Caesar's 
person and government, he said ; " I have 
no apprehension from these fat and sleek 
men, I rather fear the pale and lean ones 
meaning Cassius and Brutus.* 



* Shakspeare thus makes Caesar comment on Cassius, 
in reply to Antony ; — 

** Let me have men about me that are fat ; 

*• Sleek -headed men, and such as sleep o'nights : 

" Yond' Cassius has a lean and hungry look : 

" He thinks too much, such men are dangerous." 

And again ; 

" 'Would he were fatter:—" 



" He reads much ; 
" He is a great observer, and he looks 
" Quite through the deeds of men : he loves no plays." 



" Seldom he smiles, &c." Act I. Scene 2. 



32 ANECDOTES. 

XL VI. While Caesarwith Marcus Lepidas 
and others were signing according to custom 
a number of Letters, as they sat at table, 
there arose a question, " What kind of death 
was the best ?* when Caesar answering before 
them all, cried out u A sudden one." 



XLVII. When Charles the Orator ob- 
served to the Athenians, " What terrible 
brows Phocion had;" and they could not 
help smiling at the remark, he said, " This 
brow of mine never gave one of you an hour of 
sorrow; but the laughter of these sneerers 
has cost their country many a tear." 



XLVIII. One day when the theatre was 
full of people, Phocion was observed behind 
the scenes wrapped up in thought; upon 
which one of his friends observed to him, 



ANECDOTES. 33 

" What ! at your meditations, Phocion ?" 
" Yes/' replied he, «f I am meditating whe- 
ther I cannot shorten what I have to say to 
the Athenians." 



XLIX. When Chabrias sent Phocion to 
the islands to demand their contributions, he 
offered him a guard of twenty sail. But 
Phocion said, " If you send me against ene- 
mies, such a fleet is too small ; if to friends, 
a single ship is sufficient." 



L. In a public debate, when Phocion's 
opinion was much applauded, he turned to 
his friends and said, " Have I inadvertently 
let slip something wrong." 



LI. When the Athenians were one day 
making a collection, Phocion was importuned 

D 



34 ANECDOTES. 

to contribute among the rest, but he bade 
them apply to the rich ; a I should be 
ashamed/' said he, " to give you anything* 
and not to pay this man what I owe him r 
pointing to the usurer Callicles. And, as 
they continued very clamorous, he told them 
the following tale : — '* A cowardly fellow 
once resolved to make a campaign ; but 
when he was set out, the ravens began to 
croak, and he laid down his arms and 
stopped. When the first alarm was a little 
over, he resumed his march. The ravens, 
however, renewing their croaking, he made 
a full stop, and said, ' You may croak your 
hearts out if you please, but you shall never 
taste my carcase.' " 



LII. Demosthenes, one of the orators of 
the adverse party, happened to observe, 
The Athenians will certainly kill thee, Pho- 



ANECDOTES. 35 

cion, some time or other;" he answered, 
" They may kill me if they are mad ; but 
they will kill you if they are in their 
senses." 



LIII. Phocion's friends one day blaming 
him for having appeared in behalf of a man 
whose conduct did not deserve it, he said, 
" The good have no need of an advocate." 



LIV. The first person that brought the 
news of Alexanders death to the Athenians 
was Asclepiades, the son of Hipparchus 
Demades desired the people to give no credit 
to it ; " For, if Alexander were dead," said 
he, " the whole world would smell the car- 
case." 

d 2 



36 ANECDOTES, 

LV. When Leosthenes* by his intrigues 
had involved Athens in the Samian war, and 
saw how much Phocion was displeased at it, 
he scoffingly asked him, " What good he 
had done his country during the many years 
that he was General ?" " And dost thou 
think it nothing then/' replied Phocion, 
" for the Athenians to be buried in the sepul- 
chres of their ancestors ?" As Leosthenes 
continued to harangue the people in the 
most arrogant and pompous manner,Phocion 
said, " Young man, your speeches are like 
cypress-trees, large and lofty, but without 
fruit." 



LVI. Before Phocion received the fatal 
cup, one of his friends asked him, whether 

* There were two of this name ; the one alluded to 
in this instance, is Leosthenes who was killed by the 
blow of a stone, B. C. 323, when besieging the town of 
Lamia. 



ANECDOTES. 37 

or not he had any commands to his son ; 
" Yes/' said he, " by all means tell him 
from me, to forget the ill treatment which 
I have experienced from the Athenians."* 

When they all came to drink, the quantity 
proved insufficient ; and the executioner re- 
fused to prepare more, except he had twelve 
drachmas*}- paid him, which was the price of 
a full draught. As this occasioned a trou- 
blesome delay, Phocion called one of his 
friends, and said, " Since one cannot die 
gratis at Athens, give the man his money." 



* He died B. C. 318. His body was denied a funeral 
by the ungrateful Athenians, and if it was at last in- 
terred, it was by stealth, under a hearth, by a woman 
who placed this inscription over his bones : — 

" Keep inviolate, sacred hearth, the precious remains 
of a good man, till a better day restores them to the 
monuments of their forefathers, when Athens shall be 
delivered of her phrenzy and shall be more wise" 

f A Grecian coin, value 7d. 3q. each. 



38 ANECDOTES. 

LVII, When Cato was in his fourteenth 
year, seeing the heads of many illustrious 
personages carried out, and observing that the 
by-standers sighed in secret at these scenes 
of blood, he inquired of his preceptor 
" Why somebody did not kill that man ?" 
" Because/' he replied, u they fear him 
more than they hate him." " Why then," 
said Cato, " don't you give me a sword ; that 
I may kill him, and deliver my country 
from slavery ?" When Sarpedon heard this, 
and saw with what a stern and angry look he 
uttered it, he was greatly alarmed, and 
watched him narrowly afterward, to prevent 
his attempting some rash action. 



LVIII. When one of Cato's friends said, 
" Cato, the world finds fault with your si- 
lence ;" he answered, " No matter, so long 
as it does not find fault with my life." 



ANECDOTES. 39 

LIX. When Cato's friends advised him 
to offer himself for the tribuneship, but he 
thought it was not yet time., he said, " He 
considered an office of such power and autho- 
rity as a violent medicine, which ought not 
to be used except in cases of necessity." 



LX. When Cato waited upon the three 
hundred, they thanked him, and assured 
him of their fidelity, adding, " That they 
hoped he would pity their weakness for they 
were not Catos." Cato thanked them, and 
advised them to intercede for themselves. 
ee For me," said he, " intercede not." " It 
is for the conquered to turn suppliants, and 
for those who have done an injury to beg 
pardon, For my part, I have been uncon- 
quered throughout life, and superior in the 
thing in which I wished to be so ; for in jus- 
tice and honour I am Caesar's superior. 



40 ANECDOTES. 

Caesar is the vanquished, the fallen man, 
being now clearly convicted of those designs 
against his country which he has long denied." 



LXI. Cato bethinking himself of Stati- 
lius, called out aloud to Apollonides, and 
said, cc Have you lowered the pride of that 
young man, and is he gone without bidding 
us farewell ?" " No indeed," answered the 
philosopher, " we have taken a great deal of 
pains with him, but he continues as lofty and 
resolute as ever ; he says he will stay, and 
certainly imitate your conduct." Cato 
smiled, and replied, " That will soon be 
seen."* 



* Alluding to his intention of destroying himself ra- 
ther than become a friend to the enemy of his country, 
or a suppliant captive to Cassar. 



ANECDOTES. ^ l 

LXII, As Agis was going to execution, he 
| erceived one of the officers lamenting his 
fate with tears, upon which he said, " My 
friends dry up your tears ; for as I suffer in- 
nocently, I am in a better condition than 
those who condemn me unjustly." So say- 
ing, he cheerfully offered his neck to the exe- 
cutioner. 



LXIII. When Hortensius was engaged in 
a case for Verres, Cicero threw out several 
enigmatical hints against the former ; and 
when he said, " He did not know how to 
solve riddles ;" Cicero retorted, " That is 
somewhat strange, when you have a sphinx 
in your house." 



LXIV. There was a person named Vati- 
nius, an insolent orator, who paid very little 
respect to the Judges in his pleadings. It 



42 ANECDOTES. 

happened that he had his neck full of scro- 
phulous swellings. This man applied to 
Cicero about some business or other ; and as 
that Magistrate did not immediately comply 
with his request^ but sat some time deliberat- 
ing, he said, " I could easily swallow such 
a thing, if I were Prsetor :" upon which 
Cicero turned round, and replied, " But I 
have not so large a throat." 



LXV. Cicero observed of Aristotle, " That 
he was a river of flowing gold :" and of 
Plato's dialogues, (( That, if Jupiter were 
to speak, he would speak as he did." 



LXVI. Cicero had succeeded in an enco- 
mium upon Marcus Crassus from the ros- 
trum ; and a few days afterward as publicly 
reproached him. " What !" said Crassus, 



ANECDOTES. 43 

" did you not lately praise me, in the place 
where you now stand ?" " True," answered 
Cicero, " but I did it by way of experiment, 
to see what I could make of a bad subject." 



LXVII. WhenPhilagrus, Metellus Nepos' 
preceptor, died, he buried him in a pompous 
manner, and placed the figure of a crow in 
marble on his monument.* "This," remarked 
Cicero, " was one of the wisest things you 
ever did ; for your preceptor has taught you 
rather to fly than speak."-}- 



* It was usual among the antients to place emblematic 
figures upon the monuments of the dead ; and these 
were either such instruments as represented the pro- 
fession of the deceased, or such animals as resembled 
them in disposition. 

\ Alluding to the celerity of his expeditions. 

\ 



44 ANECDOTES. 

LXVIII, Faustus, the son of Sylla, the 
Dictator, who had proscribed great numbers 
of Romans., having run deeply into debt and 
wasted a considerable part of his estate, was 
obliged to put up public bills for the sale of 
it. Upon which Cicero said, " I like these 
bills much better than his fathers." 



LXIX. When Antigonus had determined 
on destroying Mithridates, he communicated 
it to Demetrius his son ; having first made 
him swear to keep it secret. Demetrius was 
concerned at the affair ; but though his friend 
waited upon him as usual, tha f they might 
pursue their diversions together, he durst 
not speak to him on the subject, because of 
his oath. By degrees, however, he drew 
him aside from the rest of his companions, 
and, when they were alone, he wrote on the 
ground with the point of his spear, " Fty, 
Mithridates." 

/ 
/ 

/ 



ANECDOTES. 45 

LXX. When Lysimachus talked to Phi- 
lippides one day in a most obliging manner, 
and said, " What is there of mine that you 
would share in ?" " Any thing," said he, 
" but your secrets." 



LXXI. Antigonus having learnt that De- 
metrius was indisposed, he went to see him, 
and at the door met one of his favourites 
going out. He entered, however, and sit- 
ting down by him, took hold of his hand. 
Demetrius said, " His fever had now left 
him." " I know it, said Antigonus, " for I 
met it this moment at the door." 



LXXII. There was a young man in Egypt 
extremely desirous of the favours of a cour- 
tezan, named Thonis, but she set too high 



46 ANECDOTES. 

a price upon them. He dreamed afterward 
that he enjoyed her, and his desire was satis- 
fied. Thonis upon this commenced an action 
against him for the money ; and Borchoris 
having heard both parties ordered the man 
to count the gold that she demanded into a 
bason, and shake it about before her, that 
she might enjoy the sight of it. " For 
fancy," said he, " is no more than the sha- 
dow of truth." Lamia did not think this a 
just sentence ; " because the woman's desire 
of the gold was not removed by the sight 
of it, whereas the dream had cured her lover 
of his passion." 



LXXIII. An old woman was one day 
very troublesome to Demetrius in the street, 
and importunately begged to be heard. He 
said, " He was not at leisure." " Then," 
cried the old woman, i$ you should not be a 
king." 



ANECDOTES. 47 

LXXIV. When Philotas was admitted to 
dine once with Antony's son by Fulvia, it hap- 
pened that a physician at table had tired the 
company with his noise, when he silenced 
him with the following sophism : — " There 
are some degrees of a fever, in which cold 
water is good for a man : — every man, who 
has a fever, has it in some degree : — there- 
fore cold water is good for every man in a 
fever." 



LXXV. When Antony was distressed, be- 
cause he was without his infantry, Cleopatra 
made a jest of it, and asked him, " if it was 
so dreadful a thing, that Caesar was got into 
the ladle ?" 



LXXVI. Cleopatra's death was so sudden, 
that though they who were sent ran the whole 



48 ANECDOTES. 

way, alarmed the guards with their appre- 
hensions, and immediately broke open the 
doors, they found her quite dead, in all her 
royal ornaments. Iras, one of her women 
lay dead at her feet ; and Charmion with 
difficulty was adjusting her mistress's diadem. 
One of Caesar s messengers angrily asked, 
" Charmion, was this well done ?" u Per- 
fectly well," she replied,^ u and worthy a 
descendant of the kings of Egypt." Say- 
ing this, she expired. 



LXXVII. When Dion considered that the 



* We may fairly conclude that well done in this 
sentence implies honestly, candidly performed : because, 
Caesar had assured Cleopatra of every honourable 
treatment by promises. His conduct in the triumph 
however clearly fixed the nature and extent of his 
assurances. But the deceiver was deceived, and Char- 
mion justly replied, that it was "perfectly well" done. 



ANECDOTES. 49 

irregularities of young Dionysius were chiefly 
owing to his want of education, he exhorted 
him earnestly to apply himself to study ; 
and by all means to send for Plato, the prince 
of philosophers, into Sicily : " Upon his 
arrival," said he, " apply to him without 
loss of time. Conformed by his precepts to 
that divine exemplar of beauty and perfec- 
tion, which called the universe from confu- 
sion into order, you will at once secure your 
own happiness, and that of your people. 
The obedience, which they now render you 
through fear, by your justice and moderation 
you will improve into a principle of filial 
duty ; and, from a tyrant, you will become 
a king. Fear, and force, and fleets, and 
armies, are not, as your father called them, 
" the adamantine chains of government ;" 
but that attention, that affection, that respect, 
which goodness ever draws after them. 
These are the milder, but at the same time 

E 



50 ANECDOTES. 

the stronger, bonds of empire. Besides, it is 
surely a disgrace for a prince, who in all the 
circumstances of figure and appearance is 
distinguished from the people, not to rise 
above them likewise in the superiority of his 
conversation and the cultivation of his mind, 
and to embellish the palace of his soul with 
royal furniture." 



LXXVIII. Plutarch compares (and a 
beautiful comparison it is) the soul to a 
winged chariot with two horses and a cha- 
rioteer. One of the horses is mischievous 
and unruly, the other gentle and tractable. 
The charioteer is Reason : the unruly horse 
denotes the concupiscent, and the tractable 
one the irascible part. 



LXXIX. Previous to the last and fatal 



ANECDOTES. 51 

battle in which Brutus was engaged, Cassius, 
after (conversing with his friend, asked him 
his resolution concerning flight and death ? 
Brutus replied, " In the younger and less 
experienced part of my life I was led, upon 
philosophical principles, to condemn the 
conduct of Cato in killing himself. I thought 
it at once impious and unmanly to sink be- 
neath the stroke of fortune, and to refuse 
the lot that had befallen us. In my present 
situation, however, I am of a different opi- 
nion ; so that if heaven should now be un- 
favourable to our wishes, I will no longer 
solicit my hopes or my fortune, but die con- 
tented with it, such as it is. On the ides of 
March I devoted my life to my country, and 
since that time I have lived in liberty and 
glory."* At these words Cassius smiled, 



* There is, one would think, a degree of inconsistency 
in the ideas and actions of Brutus. When uninfluenced 



52 ANECDOTES. 

and embracing Brutus said, " Let us march 
then against the enemy ; for with these reso- 
tions, though we should not conquer, we 
have nothing to fear." 



LXXX. When Fortune had declared for 
Antony, Brutus requested Volumnius to help 
him give the fatal thrust. Volumnius, as 
well as others, refused ; and one of them 
observing that they must necessarily fly, 
" We must fly, indeed," said Brutus, rising 
hastily, " not however with our feet, but with 
our hands." 



LXXXL When Clearchus advised Cyrus 



by the terrors of captivity and revenge (naturally to be 
expected from a man, whom they bad so bitterly opposed) 
he condemns the conduct of Cato, — but no sooner do 
those presentiments take possession of his mind, than he 
embraces the very deed as a last and only rescource. 



ANECDOTES. 53 

to post himself behind the Macedonians,* 
and not risk his person, he is reported to 
have said, " What advice is this, Clearchus; 
would you have me, at the very time I am 
aiming at a Crown, shew myself unworthy 
of one ?" 



LXXXII. When Cleomenes desired to be 
appointed General of the Achseans, and to be 
associated with him in the care of the citadel 
of Corinth, Aratus answered, " That he did 
not now govern affairs, but they governed 
him." 



LXXXIII. Philip, who opposed Aratus' 
attempts to reconcile the Messenians, assem- 
bled the Magistrates in private, and asked 



* It is related so iti Plutarch, but we should read 
Lacedaemonians. It is the error of some transcriber. 



54 ANECDOTES. 

them, " Whether they had not laws to re- 
strain the rabble ?" and, on the other, he 
asked the demagogues, " Whether they had 
not hands to defend them against tyrants ?" 



LXXXIV. When Thaurion, by the com- 
mand of Philip, had given Aratus a dose not 
of a violent kind, but lingering though sure 
in its effects (for he feared to take him off 
suddenly), one of Aratus' friends came to 
visit him in his chamber, and expressing his 
surprise at seeing him spit blood (for Aratus 
though conscious of his illness concealed it,) 
he said, " Such, Cephalion, are the fruits of 
royal friendship." 



LXXXV. Once, when the soldiers began 
to murmur, and their complaints were 
brought to Galba, he said, " That it was 



ANECDOTES. 55 

his custom to choose, not to buy his sol- 
diers." 



LXXXVI. When Julius Atticus, a sol- 
dier of some note among the Guards, came 
up to Galba with his bloody sword, and cry- 
ing out, that he had slain Caesar s enemy, 
(meaning Otho) for a strong report prevailed 
to that effect, the Emperor, fixing his eye 
upon him, said, " Who gave you orders ?" 
He answered, 4 My allegiance, and the oath 
which I had taken 



LXXXVII. After the battle of Brodria- 
cum, the attachment of Otho's soldiers to 



* Could the Protector attribute the depriving king 
Charles of his life to the same orders ? If so Charles was 
not a martyr — if otherwise, Oliver and all his assistants 
were murderers. 



56 ANECDOTES. 

their Emperor exceeds belief. One of the 
private men, drawing his sword, thus ad- 
dressed himself to Otho : — " Learn, Caesar, 
what your soldiers are ready to do for you," 
and immediately plunged the steel into his 
heart. 



LXXXVIII When Lysander was told, 
it did not become the descendants of Her- 
cules to adopt such artful expedients as he 
was then using, he turned it off with a jest, 
and said ; <c Where the lion's skin falls 
short, it must be eked with that of the fox." 

There is a saying likewise of Lysanders 
recorded by Androclides, which shows the 
little regard he had for oaths : " Children," 
he said, " were to be cheated with cockalls, 
and men with oaths." 



ANECDOTES. 57 

LXXXIX. The Teutones approaching 
very near Marius's camp, on their way to 
Aquae Sextiae, asked the Romans by way of 
insult, " Whether they had any commands 
to their wives, for they should shortly be 
with them." 



XC. Here Marius prepared for battle; 
having pitched upon a place for his camp, 
which was unexceptionable in point of 
strength, but afforded little water. By this 
circumstance he wished to excite the soldiers 
to action ; and when many of them com- 
plained of thirst, he pointed to a river which 
ran close to the enemy's camp, and told them 
" That there they must purchase water with 
their blood." u Why then," said they " do 
you not immediately lead us thither, before 
our blood is quite parched up?" To which 
he replied, in a softer tone, " Thither I will 
lead you, but first let us fortify our camp." 



58 ANECDOTES. 

XCI. Cyrus desired Lysander at an enter- 
tainment (provided on account of his going 
to take leave) not to refuse the marks of his 
regard, but to ask some favour of him : 
" As you are so very kind to me," said 
Lysander, " I beg you would add an obolus # 
to the seamen's pay, so that instead of three 
obolus a day they may have four." Cyrus 
charmed with this generous answer, made 
him a present of ten thousand pieces of gold. 



XCII. Ephorus informs us that after 
Lysander's death, upon some disputes be- 
tween the confederates and the Spartans, it 
was thought necessary to inspect his papers, 
and for that purpose Agesilaus went to his 
house. Among the rest he found that poli- 
tical one which was calculated to prove the 



* Obolus, equal in value to Id. lq. 



ANECDOTES. 59 

propriety of taking the right of succession 
from the Eurytionidae and Agidae, and of 
electing kings from among persons of the 
greatest merit. This he was going to pro- 
duce before the citizens in order to shew 
what the real principles of Lysander were. 
But Lacratidas, a man of sense and principal 
of the Ephori, restrained him from it by re- 
presenting, " How wrong it would be to dig 
Lysander out of his grave ; when this oration, 
which was written in so artful and pursua- 
sive a manner, ought rather to be buried 
with him. 



XCIII. When Cimon walked out, he 
used to have a number of young men well 
clothed : and if he happened to meet an 
aged citizen in a mean dress, he ordered 
some one of them to change clothes with 
him. This was great and noble. But 



60 ANECDOTES. 

beside this, the same attendants carried with 
them a quantity of money ; and when they 
observed in the market place any necessitous 
person of tolerable appearance, they took 
care as privately as possible to slip some 
pieces into his hands. 

Gorgias, the Leontine, gives him this 
character : " He got riches to use them, and 
used them so as to be honoured on their 
account." And Crilias, one of the thirty 
tyrants, in his elegies thus expresses the 
utmost extent of his wishes ; — 

" The wealth of Scopas, heirs the soul of Cimon, 
tf And the famed trophies of Agesilaus. 



XCIV. When Archelaus, who had for- 
merly commanded the king's forces in 
Bceotia, but was now come over to the 
Romans and fought for them, asserted, — 



ANECDOTES. 61 

" That if Lucullus would only make his 
appearance in Pontus, all would immediately 
fall before him ;" he said, " He would not 
act in a more cowardly manner than hunters* 
nor pass the wild beasts by, and go to their 
empty dens. 



XCV, Nicias defended himself all night 
at a small place called Polyzelium, and con- 
tinued his march next day to the river 
Asinarus. The enemy galled his troops all 
the way, and when they came to the banks 
of the river, pushed them in. Nay, some, 
impatient to quench their burning thirst, 
voluntary plunged into the stream. Then 
followed a most cruel scene of blood and 
slaughter; the poor waetches being massa- 
cred, as they were drinking. At last Nicias 
threw himself at the feet of Gylippus, and 
said, c( Gyllippus, you should shew some 



62 

ANECDOTES. 

compassion amidst your victory. I ask 
nothing for myself. What is life to a man, 
whose misfortunes are celebrated even to a 
proverb ? But, with respect to the other 
Athenians, consider that the chance of war 
is uncertain ; and remember with what 
humanity and moderation they treated you, 
when they were victorious." 



XCVI. As Lucullus was about to cross 
the river, some of his officers admonished 
him to beware of that day, which was one 
of the inauspicious, or (as they call them) 
black ones to the Romans : for upon that 
day, Caepio's army had been defeated by the 
Cimbri. Lucullus returned the memorable 
answer, " I will make this day too an aus- 
picious one for Rome." It was the sixth of 
October. 



ANECDOTES. 63 

XCVII. When Crassus was about to 
engage Spartacus, they brought him his 
horse, upon which, he drew his sword and 
killed him, saying at the same time, " If I 
prove victorious, I shall have horses at com- 
mand ; if I am defeated, I shall have no 
need of this." 



XCVIII. Crassus, pursuing his journey, 
came to Brundusium ; and though the 
winter storms made the voyage dangerous, 
he put to sea, and lost many vessels in his 
passage. As soon as he had collected the 
rest of his troops, he continued his route by 
land through Galatia. He there paid his 
respects to Deiotarus, who though an old 
man was building a new city. Crassus 
laughed, and said, " You begin to build at 
the twelfth hour of the day !" The king 
laughed in his turn, and replied, " You do 



64 ANECDOTES. 

not set out, general, very early in the morn- 
ins against the Parthians !" Crassus indeed 
was then above sixty years of age, and he 
looked much older than he really was. 



XCIX. Sertorius after his conquest over 
the troops of Afranius, the next morning 
again took the field ; but perceiving that 
Metellus was at hand, he drew off and 
decamped. He did it, however, with an air 
of gaiety ; " If that old woman (said he) 
had not been here, I would have flogged the 
boy well, and sent him back to Rome." 



C. The sacred band, it is said, remained 
undefeated till the battle of Cheronaea ; and 
when Phillip, after the fight, took a view of 
the slain, and came to the place where the 
three hundred, who with their light arms 



ANECDOTES. 65 

had encountered the files of his phalanx, lay 
heaped together, and on expressing his 
surprise, was told that it was ( the band of 
Friends he exclaimed with tears, " May a 
curse light upon those, who suspect that 
such brave men could ever do or suffer a 
shameful thing !" 



CI. When Pelopidas was informed, that 
the tyrant was advancing toward him with 
a large army ; " So much the better," said 
he, " for we shall beat so many the more." 



CII. Posidonius tell us, that Fabius was 
called e the shield,' and Marcellus c the 
sword :' but Annibal himself said, " He 
stood in fear of Fabius as his schoolmaster, 
and of Marcellus as his adversary ; for he 

F 



66 ANECDOTES. 

received hurt from the latter, and by the 
former was prevented doing hurt himself." 

i ' |« ■ i; I ii. L\ 3 - : ■ !. i ".>.■■£*- hi ; 2iir,.in - 

CM. Epaminondas called the plains of 
Bceotia, 6 the orchestra of Mars/ and Xeno- 
phon Ephesus, c the arsenal of war." 



CIV. Marcellus having miscarried in a 
battle with Annibal through an unseasonable 
movement, the following morning he hung 
out early the scarlet robe which was the 
ordinary signal for battle ; and ranged his 
troops in proper order. When this was 
reported to Annibal, he exclaimed ; " Ye 
gods, what can one do with a person, who is 
not affected with either good or bad fortune r 
This is the only man who will neither give 
any time to rest when he is victorious^ nor 
take any when he is beaten. We must even 



ANECDOTES. 67 

resolve to fight with him for ever; since, 
whether prosperous or unsuccessful, a prin- 
ciple of confidence, or of shame, equally 
impels him to new attempts and farther ex- 
ertions of courage." 



CV. When Aristides sat as judge between 
two private persons, and one of them ob- 
served, " That his adversary had done many 
injuries to Aristides :" " Tell me not that," 
said he, ee but what injury he has done to 
you; for it is your cause which I am judg- 
ing, not my own." 



CVI. When King Eumenes came to 
Rome, the Senate received him with extra- 
ordinary respect ; but Cato visibly neglected 
and shunned him. Upon which somebody 

inquired, " Why do you shun Eumenes, 
f 2 



68 ANECDOTES. 

who is so good a man, and so great a friend 
to the Romans ?" ■* That may be/' answered 
Cato, u but I look upon a king as a creature 
that feeds on human flesh ; and of all the 
kings that have been so much celebrated, I 
find not one to be compared with an Epami- 
nondas, a Pericles, or a Themistocles." 



CVII. A tribune of the people, who had 
the character of a poisoner, proposing a bad 
law, and strenuously exerting himself to get 
it passed, Cato said to him, " Young man, I 
know not whether it is the most dangerous ; 
to drink what you mix, or to enact what 
you propose." 



CVIII. When Antiochus' ambassadors 
represented to the Achaeans how numerous 
the king's forces were, and, to make them 



ANECDOTES. 69 

appear still more so, reckoned them up by 
all their different names ; " I supped once," 
said Flaminius, " with a friend, and upon 
my complaining of the number of dishes, 
and expressing my wonder how he could 
furnish his table with such an immense va- 
riety ; * Be not uneasy about that/ said my 
friend, 6 for it is all hogs' flesh, and the 
difference is only in the dressing and the 
sauce.' " 



CIX. One day Themistocles happening 
to observe, " That he looked upon it as the 
principal virtue of a general, to know and 
foresee the designs of the enemy ;" Aristides 
replied, " That is indeed a necessary quali- 
fication, but there is another very excellent 
one, and really becoming a general, and that 
is — to have clean hands." 



70 ANECDOTES. 

CX. Cato the Censor used to say, that 
" the soul of a lover lived in the body of 
another :" and that, " In all his life he had 
never repented but of three things ; the first, 
that he had trusted a woman with a secret; 
the second, that he had gone by sea, when 
he might have gone by land ; and the third, 
that he had passed one day without having 
a will by him." 



CXI. To some individuals who expressed 
their wonder that, while so many persons of 
little note had their statues, Cato had none, 
he replied ; " He had much rather it should 
be asked, why he had not a statue than why 
he had one." 



CXII. Antigonus having gained a certain 
victory, to try his Macedonian officers, de- 



ANECDOTES. 71 

manded of them, ce Why they had led on 
the cavalry, before he had given them the 
signal ?" By way of apology, they said, 
u They were obliged against their will to 
come to action, because a young man of 
Megalopolis had begun the attack too soon." 
" That young man," replied Antigonus 
smiling, " has performed the office of an 
experienced general." 



CXIII. Aristaenetus, the Megalopolitan, 
who had great interest among the Achaeans, 
but always courted the Romans, declared it 
in council as his opinion, " That they ought 
not to be opposed or disobliged in any thing." 
Philopcemen heard him with silent indigna- 
tion ; and at last, when he could refrain no 
longer, exclaimed, u And why in such haste, 
wretched man, to see an end of Greece ?" 



72 ANECDOTES. 

CXIV. Livy writes, that Annibal after his 
final defeat, having poison in readiness, 
mixed it for a draught, and taking the cup 
in his hand, " Let us deliver the Romans," 
said he, " from their anxieties, since they 
think it too tedious and dangerous to wait 
for the death of a poor hated old man. Yet 
shall not Titus gain a conquest worth envy- 
ing, or suitable to the generous proceedings 
of his ancestors, who sent to caution Pyrrhus, 
though a victorious enemy, against the poison 
that was prepared for him." 



CXV. Fabricius being consul, an un- 
known person came to his camp with a 
letter from the king's physician, who offered 
to take off Pyrrhus by poison, and so put an 
end to the war without any further hazard 
to the Romans, provided that they gave him 



ANECDOTES. 73 

a proper compensation for his services. 
Fabricius detested the fellow's villany ; and 
having brought his colleague into the same 
sentiments, instantly sent despatches to 
Pyrrhus to caution him against the treason. 
The letter ran thus : — 

" Caius Fabricius and Quintus ./Emilius, 
consuls, to king Pyrrhus, health. 

" It appears that you judge very ill both 
of your friends, and of your enemies. For 
you will find by this letter, which was sent 
to us, that you are at war with men of virtue 
and honour, and trust knaves and villains. 
Neither is it out of kindness, that we give 
you this information ; but we do it lest your 
death should bring a disgrace upon us, and 
we should seem to have put a period to the 
war by treachery, when we could not do it 
by valour." 



74 ANECDOTES. 

CXVI. As soon as Pyrrhus set foot in 
Laconia, he began to plunder and ravage it. 
And upon the ambassadors representing 
that he had commenced hostilities without 
a previous declaration of war, he said ; "And 
do we not know, that you Spartans never 
declare beforehand what measures you are 
going to take ?" to which a Spartan named 
Mandricidas, who was in company, replied 
in his Laconic dialect ; tc If thou art a god, 
thou wilt do us no harm, because we have 
done thee none : if thou art a man, perhaps 
we may find a better man than thyself." 



CXVII. Eurybiades, on account of the 
dignity of Sparta, had the command of the 
fleet ; but, as he was apprehensive of the 
danger, he proposed to set sail for the 
Isthmus, and fix his station near the Pelo- 
ponesian army. Themistocles, however, 



ANECDOTES. 75 

opposed it ; and the account, which we have 
of the conference upon that occasion, deserves 
to be here inserted. When Eurybiades 
said, " Don't you know Themistocles, that 
in the public games such as rise up before 
their turn, are chastised for it ?" " Yes," 
answered Themistocles, " yet those who are 
left behind, never gain the crown." Eury- 
biades upon this lifting up his staff, as if he 
intended to strike him, Themistocles said, 
" Strike, but hear me." The Lacedaemonian, 
admiring his command of temper, bade him 
speak what he had to say : and Themistocles 
was leading him back to the subject, when 
one of the officers thus interrupted him ; 
" It ill becomes you, who have no city, to 
advise us to quit our habitations, and aban- 
don our country." Upon which Themistocles 
retorted thus ; " Wretch that thou art, we 
have indeed left our walls and houses, not 
choosing for the sake of those inanimate 



76 ANECDOTES, 

things to become slaves ; yet we have still 
the most respectable city of Greece in these 
two hundred ships, which are here ready to 
defend you, if you will give them leave. 
But if you betray us a second time, Greece 
shall soon find the Athenians possessed of 
as free a city, and as valuable a country as 
that which they have quitted." Having 
finished, a certain Eretrian attempted to 
speak, when Themistocles exclaimed, — 
" What have you too something to say 
about war, who are like the fish that has a 
sword, but no heart ?" 



CXVIII. Themistocles used to say, "The 
Athenians paid him no honour or sincere 
respect : but when a storm arose, or danger 
appeared, they sheltered themselves under 
him, as under a plain tree ; which, when 
the weather was fair again, they would rob 
of its leaves and branches." 



ANECDOTES. // 

CXIX. An officer, who thought he had 
done the state some service, setting himself 
up against Themistocles and venturing to 
compare their exploits, he answered him 
with this fable : " There once happened a 
dispute between the feast-day, and the day 
after the feast, Said the day after the feast, 
I am full of bustle and trouble ; whereas, 
with you, folks enjoy at their ease every 
thing ready provided. You say right, replied 
the feast-day, but if I had not been before 
you, you would not have been at all. So, 
had it not been for me then, where would 
you have been now ?" 



CXX. Two citizens courting Themis- 
tocles' daughter, he preferred the worthy 
man to the wealthy one, and assigned as 
his reason ; " He had rather she should 
have a man without money, than money 
without a man." 



78 ANECDOTES. 

CXXI. Themistocles replied to king 
Arimanius, upon being requested by him to 
declare freely whatever he had to propose 
concerning Greece, " That a man's discourse 
was like a piece of tapestry, which when 
spread open displays its figures, but when 
folded up, conceals and obscures them ; and 
therefore he begged time." 



CXXII. The schoolmaster of the public 
school at Falerii, having at last got all the 
boys together, brought them to the Roman 
advanced guard, and delivered them up to be 
carried to Camillus. When he came into 
his presence, he told him, " He was the 
schoolmaster and tutor of Falerii ; but, pre- 
ferring the favour of Camillus to the obliga- 
tions of duty, he came to surrender to him 
those children, and in them the whole city." 
This action appeared to Camillus most in- 



ANECDOTES. 79 

famous, and he said to those who were pre- 
sent, " War at best is a savage thing, and is 
transacted with much violence and injustice; 
yet even war itself has its laws 5 from which 
men of honour will not depart; neither do 
they so pursue victory, as to avail themselves 
of acts of villany and baseness. For a great 
general should rely only upon his own vir- 
tue, and not upon the treachery of others." 
He then ordered the lictors to tear oif the 
man's clothes, to tie his hands behind him, 
and to furnish the boys with rods and 
scourges to punish the traitor, and whip him 
into the city. 



CXXIII. When Sophocles, who was 
joined in command with Pericles upon a 
naval expedition, happened to praise the 
beauty of a certain boy, he said, " A general, 
my friend, should not only have pure hands, 
but pure eyes." 



80 ANECDOTES. 

CXXIV. When Archidamus, one of the 
kings of Lacedaemon, asked Thucydides, 
" Which was the best wrestler, Pericles or 
he ?" he replied, " When I throw him, he 
says he was never down, and he persuades 
the very spectators to believe him." 



CXXV. It is said, that when ambassa- 
dors from Lacedaemon came upon a certain 
occasion to Athens, Pericles pretended 
there was a law which forbade the taking 
down of any tablet upon which a decree of 
the people was written : " Then," said Poly- 
arces, one of the ambassadors, " dont take 
it down, but turn the other side outward ; 
there is no law against that." 



CXXVI. On the eve of a certain sea ex- 
pedition, when all was ready, an eclipse of 



ANECDOTES. 81 

the sun took place, Pericles observing that 
the pilot was much astonished and per- 
plexed, took his cloak, and having covered 
his eyes with it asked him, "If he found 
any thing terrible in that, or considered it 
as an alarming presage ?" Upon his an- 
swering in the negative, u Where then is 
the difference," he said, " between this and 
the other, except that something bigger than 
my cloak causes the eclipse." 



CXXVII. When Pericles was at the point 
of death, his surviving friends, and the 
principal citizens sitting about his bed, 
discoursed together concerning his extra- 
ordinary virtue, and many noble exploits, 
supposing that he paid no attention to what 
they said, but that his senses were gone. 
He took notice, however, of every word 
which they had spoken, and audibly ob- 

G 



82 ANECDOTES. 

served ; "I am surprised, while you com- 
memorate and extol these acts of mine, 
though fortune had her share in them, and 
many other generals have performed the 
like : that you take no notice of the greatest 
and most honourable part of my character, 
viz. that no Athenian through my means 
ever put on mourning." 



CXXVIII. Fabius Maximus always en- 
camped on the mountains, and sought by 
length of time to waste Annibal's vigour, 
and gradually to destroy him by means of his 
superiority in men and money. These dila- 
tory proceedings exposed him to contempt, 
and Annibal alone was sensible of the keeness 
of Fabius, and of the manner in which he 
intended to carry on the war. 

Minutius, general of his horse, inquired 



ANECDOTES. 83 

of Fabius's friends, " Whether he intended 
taking his army up into heaven, as he had 
bid adieu to the world below ; or sought to 
screen himself from the enemy by clouds and 
fogs ?" When the dictators friends brought 
him an account of these aspersions, and 
exhorted him to wipe them off by risking a 
battle ; " In that case/' said he, " I should 
be of a more dastardly spirit than they 
represent me, if through fear of insults and 
reproaches, I should abandon my fixed re- 
solution. But to fear for my country is no 
disgraceful fear. That man is unworthy of 
a command like mine, who shrinks under 
calumnies and slanders, and complies with 
the humour of those whom he ought to 
govern, and whose inconsiderate rashness it 
is his duty to restrain," 



CXXIX. Annibal, as he was drawing off, 

Qr 2 



84 ANECDOTES. 

in an engagement with Minutius, who being 
overpowered was assisted by Fabius, is 
reported to have said smartly to those that 
were by ; " Did I not often tell you, that 
this cloud would one day burst upon us from 
the mountains, with all the fury of a 
tempest ?" 



CXXX. When Alcibiades was past his 
childhood^ happening to go into a grammar 
school^ he asked the master for a volume of 
Homer ; and upon his answering that he 
had nothing of Homer's, he gave him a 
box on the ear, and left him. Another 
schoolmaster telling him, that he had a 
Homer corrected by himself? u How !" said 
Alcibiades, and do you employ your time in 
teaching children to read ? You, who are 
able to correct Homer, might seem to be fit 
to instruct men." 



ANECDOTES. 



85 



CXXXI. Thucydides has omitted the 
names of Alcibiades' accusers of his sacrile- 
gious behaviour with respect to the mysteries, 
but others mention Dioclides and Teucer. 
So Phrynicus, the comic poet : — * 

Good Hermes, pray beware a fall ; nor break 
Thy marble nose, lest some false Dioclides 
Once more his shafts in fatal poison drench. 

Mere. — I will 5 nor e'er again shall that informer 
Teucer, that faithless stranger, boast from me 
Rewards for perjury. 



CXXXII. After the battle, in which 
Mindarus, one of the Lacedaemonian Gene- 
rals, was slain, the following letter was in- 
tercepted, which, in the truly laconic style, 
was to give the Ephori an account of theii 
misfortune — ee Our glory is faded. Minda- 
rus is slain. Our soldiers are starving ; and 
we know not what step to take." 



*. Phrynicus was the first who introduced female 
characters on the stage. 



86 ANECDOTES. 

CXXXIII. When Alcibiades was con- 
cealed at Thurii,* some person knowing him, 
said, 66 Will you not then trust your coun- 
try ?" he answered, " As to any thing else, 
I will trust her ; but with my life I would 
not trust even my mother, lest she should 
mistake a black bean for a white one." 



CXXXIV. " It was a shrewd saying, 
whoever said it," says Plutarch, " That the 
man who first ruined the Roman people, was 
he who first gave them treats and gratuities." 



CXXXV. Coriolanus, after his sentence, 
putting himself in such clothes and habili- 
ments as were most likely to prevent his 
being known, like Ulysses — 

He stole into the hostile town. 
It was evening when he entered ; and, though 

* Thurise - ii or ium, a town of Lucania in Italy, 
near the ruins of Sybaris. 



ANECDOTES. 87 

many people met him in the streets, not one 
of them knew him. He passed therefore on 
to the house of Tullus, where he got in un- 
discovered ; and having directly made up to 
the fire-place, he seated himself without say- 
ing a word, covering his face and remaining 
in a composed posture. The people of the 
house were much surprised, yet they did not 
venture to disturb him, for there was some- 
thing of dignity both in his person and si- 
lence ; but they went and related the strange 
adventure to Tullus, who was then at supper. 
Tullus upon this arose from table, and com- 
ing up to Coriolanus, asked him, " Who he 
was, and upon what business he was come !" 
Coriolanus uncovering his face paused awhile, 
and then said, " If thou dost not yet know 
me, Tullus, but mistrustest thine eyes, I 
must of necessity be my own accuser — I am 
Gaius Marcius, who have brought so many 
calamities upon the Volsci ; and I bear the 



88 ANECDOTES. 

additional name of Coriolanus, which would 
not suffer me, were I so inclined, to deny that 
imputation. For all the labours and dangers 
which I have undergone, I have no other 
reward left me but that appellation, which 
distinguished my enmity to your nation, and 
which cannot indeed be taken from me. Of 
every thing else I am deprived by the envy 
and outrage of the people on the one hand, 
and by the cowardice and treachery of the 
Magistrates and those of my own order on 
the other. Thus driven out an exile, I 
am come a suppliant to your household gods ; 
not for shelter and protection (for why should 
I come hither, if I were afraid of death ?) but 
for vengeance against those who have expelled 
me, which I already seem to begin to take, by 
putting myself into your hands. If therefore 
you are disposed to attack the enemy, come on 
brave Tullus, avail yourself of my misfor- 
tunes ; let my personal distress be the com- 



ANECDOTES. 89 

mon happiness of the Volsci. You may be 
assured, I shall fight much better for you, 
than I have fought against you ; because they 
who know perfectly the state of the enemy's 
affairs, are much more capable of annoying 
them, than such as do not know them. But 
if you have given up all thoughts of war, I 
neither desire to live, nor is it proper for 
you to preserve a person who of old has 
been your enemy in the field, and now is 
not able to render you any kind of service." # 



CXXXVL The answer which Aristides, 
the Locrian, one of Plato's intimate friends, 
gave to Dionysius the elder, when he de- 
manded one of his daughters in marriage, 



* His history and fate are too familiar to need any 
observation — suffice it to say, he was honourably and 
hospitably entertained by Tullns. 



90 ANECDOTES. 

was to this effect : — " I had rather see the 
virgin in her grave, than in the palace of a 
tyrant." And when Dionysius soon after- 
ward put his son to death, and then inso- 
lently asked him, " What he now thought, 
as to the disposal of his daughter ?" I am 
sorry," said he, " for what you have done, 
but I do not repent of what I have said." 



CXXXVII. On a certain occasion the 
Carthaginians despatched an ambassador to 
Taurominium, who represented the affair in 
question at large to Andromachus, insisting 
with much insolence that he should imme- 
diately turn the Corinthians out of his town; 
and at last showing him his hand with the 
palm upward, and then turning it down 
again, told him, " If he did not comply with 
that condition, the Carthaginians would 
overturn his city, just as he had turned his 



ANECDOTES. 91 

hand." Andromachus only smiled, and 
without making him any other answer 
stretched out his hand, first with one side up 
and then the other, and bade him " Begone 
directly, if he did not choose to have his 
ship turned upside down in the same manner." 



CXXXVIII. Some one who had a mind 
to be arch, and to make merry with Dionysius, 
shook his robe when he entered his apart- 
ment, as is usual when persons approach a 
tyrant ; and he, quickly returning the jest, 
bade him " do the same when he went out, 
that he might not carry off any of the 
moveables." 



CXXXIX. When Alexander asked Eu- 
menes to lend him three hundred talents, he 
offered him only one hundred, assuring him 



92 ANECDOTES. 

that he should find it difficult to collect that 
sum by his stewards. Alexander refused 
the offer, but did not complain. He ordered 
his servants however privately to set fire to 
Eumenes' tent, that he might be forced to 
carry out his money, and thus be openly 
convicted of a falsehood. 



CXL. When those who took the charge of 
Eumenes, asked, {e In what manner Anti- 
gonus would have him guarded r" he replied, 
" As you would guard an elephant, or a 
lion. 5 ' 



CXLI. One day, we are told, Eumenes 
asked his keeper Onomarchus ; " Why 
Antigonus, now that he had gotten his 
enemy into his power, did not either im- 
mediately despatch, or generously release 



ANECDOTES. 93 

him ?" Onomarchus contemptuously ob- 
served, "That in the battle, and not in 
prison, he should have been ready to meet 
death." To which Eumenes replied, "By 
heaven I was so. Ask those, who ventured 
to engage me, if I was not. I do not know 
that I met with a better man than myself." 
" Well," said Onomarchus, " now that you 
have found a better man than yourself, why 
do not you patiently wait his time ?" 



CLXII. One day Megabates approached 
to salute Agesilaus who declined that mark 
of his affection. The youth, after this was 
more distant in his addresses. Agesilaus 
was then sorry for the repulse which he had 
given him, and affected to wonder why 
Megabates kept at such a distance. His 
friends told him, he must blame himself for 
having rejected his former application : " He 



94 ANECDOTES. 

would still," they added, " be glad to pay 
his most obliging respects to you ; but take 
care you do not reject them again." Age- 
silaus was silent for some time ; and when 
he had considered the thing, said, te Do not 
mention it to him : for this second victory 
over myself gives me more pleasure, than I 
should have in turning the whole of what I 
see to gold." 



CLXIII. At a conference between Pharn- 
abazus and Agesilaus, the former in reply 
to certain observations of the latter, explained 
himself in these terms ; " If the king send 
another lieutenant in my room, I will come 
over to you ; but while he continues me in 
the government, I will to the best of my 
power repel force to force, and make re- 
prisals for him upon you." Charmed with 



ANECDOTES. 95 

this reply Agesilaus took his hand, and 
rising up with him said, " Heaven grant 
that, with such sentiments as these, you 
may be our friend and not our enemy P* 



CLXIV. As the Persian money had the 
impression of an archer, Agesilaus said, 
" He was driven out of Asia by ten thousand 
of the king's archers." For the orators of 
Athens and Thebes, having been bribed 
with so many pieces of money, had excited 
their countrymen to take up arms against 
Sparta. 



CLXV. After the battle in which Domi- 
lius was slain, Pompey on his return to 
Rome, demanded a triumph, but was op- 
posed by Sylla. Not in the least intimidated 
however, he bade him consider, "That 



96 



ANECDOTES. 



more worship the rising than the setting 
sun." Sylla did not well hear what he said, 
but perceiving by the looks and gestures of 
the company that they were struck with the 
expression, he asked what it was ; and when 
he was informed, in admiration of Pompey's 
spirit he cried out, " Let him triumph ! 
Let him triumph !" 



CLXVI. Menecrates the physician, having 
succeeded in some desperate cases, got the 
surname of Jupiter. And he was so vain of 
the appellation, as to adopt it in a letter to 
the king : es Menecrates Jupiter to king 
Agesilaus, health." The reply began thus : 
<c King Agesilaus to Menecrates, sanity." 



CLXVII. Antalcidas, Agesilaus' enemy, 
upon a certain occasion delivered up to the 



ANECDOTES. 97 

king of Persia those cities for whose liberty 
Agesilaus had fought. Nevertheless, when 
he was told, " the Lacedaemonians were 
turning Medes ;" he replied, " No, the 
Medes are turning Lacedaemonians." 



CXLVIII. Antalcidas, one day, seeing 
Agesilaus come off wounded, thus said to 
him ; " The Thebans pay you well for teach- 
ing them to fight, when they had neither in- 
clination nor skill for it." 



CXLIX. An Argive said to a Spartan, 
" Many of you sleep on the plains of Argos ;" 
to which the other retorted, " But not one 
of you sleep on the plains of Lacedsemon." 



CL. When Nectanabinis, in order to en- 

H 



98 ANECDOTES. 

courage Agesilaus, represented to him, that 
though the numbers of the enemy were 
considerable, they were a mixed multitude, 
many of them mechanics, who were to be 
despised for their utter ignorance of war : 
" It is not their numbers," sa id Agesilaus, 
(C that I fear, but that ignorance and 
inexperience, which render them incapable 
of being encountered by art or stratagem ; 
for those can be successfully exercised only 
upon such as, having skill enough to suspect 
the designs of their enemy, form schemes 
to countermine him, and in the mean time 
are caught by new contrivances. But he, 
who has neither expectation nor suspicion of 
that kind, gives his adversary no more 
opportunity, than he who stands still gives 
to a wrestler." 



CLI. We are told that Flora the courtezan 



ANECDOTES. 99 

took a pleasure, in her old age, in speaking 
of the commerce she had had with Pompey ; 
and she used to say, she could never quit 
his embraces without giving him a bite. 



CLII, Pompey being informed that his 
soldiers committed great disorders in their 
excursions, he sealed up their swords, and 
if any of them broke the seal, he took care 
to have them punished. 



CLIII. It was the custom for a Roman 
knight, when he had served the time pre- 
scribed by law, to lead his horse into the 
forum, before the two magistrates called 
censors ; and after having given an account 
of the generals under whom he served, and 
of his own action in them, to demand his 

discharge. Upon these occasions, they 
h 2 



100 ANECDOTES. 

received marks of honour or disgrace accord- 
ing to their behaviour. On one of these 
review-days Gellius and Lentules were cen- 
sors, and had taken their seats in a manner 
that became their dignity. Pompey was 
seen at a distance, with all the badges of his 
office as consul, leading his horse by the 
bridle. As soon as he was near enough to 
be observed by the censors, he ordered his 
lictors to make an opening, and advanced 
with his horse in hand to the foot of the 
tribunal. The people were struck with 
admiration, and a profound silence took 
place : at the same time a joy, mingled with 
reverence, was visible in the contenances of 
the censors, the elder of whom addressed 
him as follows ; " Pompey the Great, I 
demand of you, whether or not, you have 
served all the campaigns required by law ?" 
With a loud voice he replied, " I have 
served them all ; and all under myself as 



ANECDOTES. 101 

generallissimo." The people were so charm- 
ed with this answer, that there was no end 
of their acclamations ; and the censors at 
last conducted him home, to indulge the 
multitude, who followed him with the 
loudest plaudits. 



CLIV. Some pirates in the time of Pom- 
pey, when they had taken a prisoner, and 

he cried out that he was a Roman and 
told them his name, they pretended to be 
struck with terror, smote their thighs, and 
fell upon their knees to beg his pardon. The 
poor man, seeing them thus humble in their 
entreaties, thought them in earnest, and 
said he would forgive them, for some were 
so officious as to put on his shoes, and others 
to help him on with his gown, that his qua- 
lity might not again be mistaken. When 



102 ANECDOTES. 

they had carried on this farce, and enjoyed 
it for some time, they let a ladder down into 
the sea, and bade him " Go in peace ;" and 
when he refused to do it, they pushed him 
off the deck and drowned him. 



CLV. The whole care of providing and 
importing corn being committed to Pompey, 
he dispatched his deputies into various parts, 
and went in person into Sicily, Sardinia, and 
Africa, where he collected immense quanti- 
ties. When he was upon the point of re- 
embarking, a violent wind sprung up, and 
the mariners made a difficulty of putting to 
sea ; but he was the first to go on board, and 
he ordered them to weigh anchor in these 
decisive words : "It is necessary to go ; it is 
not necessary to live." His success answer- 
ed his intrepidity." 



ANECDOTES. 103 

CLVI. Pompey being declared sole Con- 
sul by the Interrex, Sulpitius* made his com- 
pliments to Cato, acknowledged himself 
much indebted to him for his support, and 
desired his private advice as to the measures 
to be pursued in his administration. Cato 
replied, " That Pompey was not under the 
least obligation to him ; for what he had 
said was not out of regard to him, but to 
his country. If you apply to me/' conti- 
nued he, " I shall give you my advice in pri- 
vate ; if not, I shall take care to inform you 
of my sentiments in public." 



CLVII. One day a dispute had arisen at 
table about the seasons, and the temperature 
of the climate. Callisthenes agreed with 
those who asserted that the country they 



* Sulpitius, or Sulpicius. 



104 ANECDOTES. 

were then in was much colder, and had win- 
ters more severe than Greece. Anaxarchus, 
with great obstinacy, maintained the con- 
trary. Upon which Callisthenes said/" You 
must indeed admit, my friend, that this is 
much the colder, for there you wore but one 
cloak in winter, and here you cannot sit at 
table without three housing-coverlets one 
over another." This stroke went to Anax-r 
archus' heart, 



CLVIII. When Pompey's friends said, 
that if Caesar should advance in a hostile 
manner against Rome, they did not see 
what forces they had to oppose him, with 
an open and smiling countenance he bade 
them give themselves no pain ; " For if," 
said he, « I do but stamp upon the ground 



ANECDOTES. 105 

in any part of Italy, both infantry and 
cavalry will instantly spring up." 



CLIX. After the battle of Pharsalia, 
when Pompey had embraced and heard 
Cornelia's speech, he replied, " Till this 
moment, Cornelia, you have experienced 
nothing but the smiles of fortune ; and it 
was she who deceived you, because she 
stayed with me longer than she commonly 
does with her favourites. But, fated as we 
are, we must bear this reverse, and make 
another trial of her. For it is not more 
improbable that we may emerge from this 
poor condition, and again rise to great 
things, than it was that we should fall from 
great things into this poor condition." 



CLX. In taking leave of Cornelia, pre- 



106 ANECDOTES. 

vious to his visit to Ptolemy, Pompey 
repeated this memorable verse of Sophocles, 

" Seeks't thou a tyrant's door ? then farewell, 

freedom ! 
Though free as air before. 

These were the last words he spoke to her. 



CLXI. The murderers of Pompey, having 
cut off his head, threw the body out of the 
boat, naked, and left it exposed to all who 
were desirous of such a sight. Philip stayed 
till the curiosity was satisfied, and having 
washed the body, collected the planks of a 
wrecked boat and laid them together. While 
thus engaged, an old Roman, who had made 
some of his first campaigns under Pompey, 
came up, and said to Philip, " Who are you, 
that are preparing the funeral of Pompey the 
great?" Philip answered, " I am his freed- 
man." " But you shall not," said the old 



ANECDOTES. 107 

Roman, u monopolise this honour. As a 
work of piety offers itself, let me have a share 
in it, that I may not absolutely repent my 
having passed so many years in a foreign 
country; but, to compensate my numerous 
misfortunes, may have the consolation of 
doing some of the last honours to the greatest 
general Rome ever produced." In this 
humble manner was conducted the humbler 
funeral of Pompey. 



CLXII. On a certain occasion the Lace- 
daemonians were much perplexed respecting 
the putting into execution the punishment 
generally used against those who had fled 
from battle. But the offenders were so 
many, and the commonwealth had so much 
occasion for soldiers that such a step would 
have been both impolitic and dangerous. 



108 ANECDOTES. 

In this dilemma they had recourse to 
Agesilaus, and invested him with new 
powers of legislation. But he, without 
making any addition, retrenchment, or 
change, went into the assembly, and told 
the Lacedaemonians, " The laws should 
sleep that day, and the day following resume 
their authority for ever." 



CLXIII. When Alexander was in Asia, 
and received information that Aristotle had 
published some books explanatory of certain 
points in the acroamatic* and epoptic 
sciences, he wrote him a letter in behalf of 
philosophy, in which he blamed the pro- 
ceeding. The following is a copy of it :— 

" Alexander to Aristotle, prosperity. You 



* Acroamatic, from the Greek, signifies deep learning 



ANECDOTES. 109 

did wrong in publishing the acroamatic parts 
of science. In what shall we differ from 
others, if the sublimer knowledge, which we 
gained from you, be disclosed to all the 
world. For my part, I had rather excel 
the bulk of mankind in the superior parts of 
learning, than in the extent of dominion 
and power. Farewell." 



CLIV. Alexander averred he had no less 
affection for Aristotle, than for his owji 
father ; u From the one he derived the 
blessings of life, from the other the blessings 
of a good life." 



CLXV. When Alexander received in- 
telligence that the Thebans had revolted, 
and that the Athenians had adopted the 



110 



ANECDOTES. 



same sentiments, he resolved to convince 
them he was no longer a boy, and imme- 
diately advanced through the pass of Thermo- 
pylae. " Demosthenes," said he, " called 
me a boy, while I was in Illyricum and 
among the Triballi, and a stripling when 
in Thessaly : but I will show him, before 
the walls of Athens, that I am a man." 



CLXVI. When Alexander was on the 
point of setting out upon his expedition, he 
had many signs from the divine powers. 
Among the rest, the statue of Orpheus in 
Libethra, which was made of cypress wood, 
was in a profuse sweat for several days. 
This the generality apprehended to be an 
illpresage ; but Aristander bade them dismiss 
their fears : " It signified," he said, " that 
Alexander would perform actions so worthy 



ANECDOTES. Ill 

to be celebrated, that they would cost the 
poets and musicians much labour and 
sweat." 



CLXVII. When Parmenio objected to 
Alexander's attempting a passage over the 
Granicus so late in the day, he replied ; 
" The Hellespont would blush, if after 
having passed it, he should be afraid of the 
Granicus." 



CLXVIII. Alexander used to say, "That 
sleep, and the commerce with the sex, were 
the things that made him most sensible of 
his mortality." For he considered both 
weariness and pleasure, as the natural effects 
of our infirmity. 



CLXIX. A casket being one day brought 



112 ANECDOTES, 

to Alexander, which appeared one of the 
most valuable things among the treasures 
and the whole equipage of Darius, he asked 
his friends, what they thought most worthy 
to be put in it ? Different things were pro- 
posed by each, but he himself said, "That 
he should deposit and preserve the Iliad in 
it." This particular is mentioned by several 
writers of credit. 



CLXX. When Parmenio and the oldest 
of Alexander's friends beheld the whole 
plain between Niphates and the Gordaen 
mountains illumined with the torches of 
the barbarians, and heard the appalling noise 
from their camp, like the bellowings of an 
immense sea, they observed among them- 
selves how arduous an enterprise it would be 
to meet such a torrent of war in open day. 
They waited upon the king therefore after 



ANECDOTES. 113 

he had finished the sacrifice, and advised 
him to attack the enemy in the night when 
darkness would hide what was most dreadful 
in the combat : upon which, he returned 
them the celebrated answer, " I will not 
steal a victory." 



CLXXI. Ariston, who commanded the 
Poenians, having killed one of the enemy 
and cut off his head, laid it at Alexander's 
feet, and said, 66 Among us, Sir, such a 
present is rewarded with a golden cup." 
The king with a smile replied, " An empty 
one, I suppose ; but I will give you one full 
of good wine, and I drink out of it your 
health into the bargain." 



CLXXII. Alexander had given nothing 

to Scrapion, one of the youths that played 
i 



114 ANECDOTES. 

with him at ball, because he asked nothing. 
One day, when they were at their diversion, 
Scrapion took care always to throw the ball 
to others of the party ; upon which Alex- 
ander said, " Why don't you give it to me ?" 
" Because you did not ask for it," said the 
youth. This repartee pleased the king 
exceedingly : and he made him very va- 
luable presents. 



CLXXIII. In Africa, Scipio having taken 
one of Caesar's ships, on board of which 
was Granius Petronices lately appointed 
quoestor, put the rest to the sword, but told 
the qoeestor, " He gave him quarter." Pe- 
tronius answered, (t It is not the custom of 
Caesar's soldiers to receive, but to give quar- 
ter/' and immediately plunged his sword into 
his own breast. 

END OP THE ANECDOTES. 



FRAGMENTS 



BY THE AUTHOR, 



" O that my power 
Could laeky or keep wing with my desires ; 
That, with unused poise of style and sense, 
I might weigh massy in judicious scale ! 
Yet here's the prop that doth support my hopes : 
When my scenes faulter, or invention halts, 
Your favour will give crutches to my faults." 

Marston. — 



i2 



FRAGMENTS. 



A DREAM. 



How lovely is it. to behold 
The snowy curtain of the west, 
Transparent as a virgin vest, 
And border' d with a lively gold ! 
How beautiful the blood-red eye 
Of day illumining the sky j 
Half hid beneath her cloudy pillow, 
Or resting on the glassy billow 5 
But, ere the misty curtain fell, 
Ere ceas'd to charm the glowing spell, 
She linger' d on the sparkling main, 
With promises to shine again. 

The sea-mew stays her restless flight, 
And nestles on the rocky height $ 



FRAGMENTS. 

The lark, secure beneath her wing, 
Forgets that she has power to sing : 
No zephyr bends the slightest brake, 
Nor heaves the bosom of the lake, 
Upon whose surface, mirror bright, 
Reflected, peeps a second night : 
A second, calm, cerulean sky, 
Smiling on Nature's lullaby. 

A few short years had roll'd between, 
Yet still, remembrance was green ; 
Time and the past had glided by, 
But there was left — the memory ; 
That frugal miser of the mind — 
That bitter poison of mankind. 
A garden, where the seeds of ill 
Are left to flourish, at their will- 
Are left to flourish, till they grow 
The evergreens of bitter woe : 
Nor care, nor toil are needed there, 
But sow the seed, the tree will bear. 

Now all was silent, all was still, 
The goat repos'd on Snowdon'g hill ; 



FRAGMENTS. 



The cock had hous'd her in the fern, 
In osier covert slept the hern j 
The sheep were huddled in the pen, 
And all was quiet in the fen. 
Beneath, with mossy weeds o'ergrown, 
Deep fix'd in earth a mossy stone, 
Projecting, rear'd its ragged head 
Above the calm translucent bed ; 
The snaky wild thorn circling round 
Profusely, trail'd along the ground ; 
And, dangling o'er the depth below, 
O'er-arching hung the tree of woe. 

There, in that rural wild alcove, 

Were pledged the vows of early love. 

Conrad's enthusiastic soul, 

Disdainful of a mean controul, 

Had there pronounc'd in friendship's name 

To cherish and preserve the flame. 

" Witness, ye restless lamps," he cried, 
e( Now Julia, swear to be my bride 5 
'' Fate and a parent's stern command 
" Compel me to forsake my land— 



120 



FRAGMENTS. 



t( O ask not why — I dare not stay — 
e< The morn must hail me far away $ 
" Few are the friendly moments given, 
" Then let us kneel and swear to Heaven.' 

" Conrad ! thou hast torn my heart — 
" Too soon for lovers yet to part ; — 
" Say, whither must thy Julia flee ? 
" A prey to hope, and lost to thee." 

On Conrad then she fix'd her eye 

In supplicating agony : 

She spoke not, mov'd not, but a sigh 

Betray'd the heart's fidelity. 

He fondly clasp'd her in his arms 

In all the wildness of her charms 5 

He press'd her to his aching breast— 

A silent tear proclaim'd the rest. 

" Appease thy anguish — cease to mourn 
" Thy Conrad, love, will soon return 5 
" My bark is waiting on the main — 
" I must — we soon shall meet again" — 

" Again ! — if there be ought above — 
e ' There — only there — may Julia love." 



FRAGMENTS. 



121 



They swear — the sacred promise flies, 
Seal'd with an oath, beyond the skies. 

There is within a secret power, 

Felt only in the trying hour 

The hope beyond — the fear below — 

The bitter doubt — the pang of woe — 

The pallid hue — the haggard eye, 

Bespeak an outward misery. 

But there's a more than mortal spell 

Attendant on the last farewell ; 

Within, within, the cruel strife, 

The mastery for death or life ! 

If there be ought of human bliss 

In the last ling'ring final kiss ; 

If the high-gifted mind can trace 

A gleam of joy in that embrace, 

When the swoln heart o'ercharg'd with grief, 

Enjoys a short, tho' sweet relief j 

When fate suspends the trembling scale, 

And hope and anguish each prevail ; 

It is when love and virtue meet 

To supplicate at honour's feet. 



122 



FRAGMENTS. 



From the deep, dank, and inossy bed. 
The maiden rose — her prayer was said. 
She dash'd away the dewy tear, 
As the last accents caught her ear — 
" Ere thrice yon silver moon doth shine, 
r * In life or death, thou shalt be mine." 

Conrad — but Conrad he was gone ! 
And Julia — she was left alone ! 



FRAGMENTS. 



REMEMBER THEE. 



O yes ! I will ever remember thee 

When wafted on the still green sea j 

When in fields, where I delight to roam, 

My thoughts shall return them to their home 5 

For the pleasures of Memory are, sweet to me, 

And I will for ever remember thee. 

Tho' the Spring of my passion is long gone by, 

The Summer of Hope is stealing nigh 5 

And the blossoms undressing on every green tree, 

In falling will bid me remember thee. 



124 



FRAGMENTS. 



AN ACCOMPANIMENT FOR A 
PURSE. 



O ! may this little present prove 
A friendship candid and sincere ; 

O ! may its fulness cherish love, 
And dash away misfortune's tear. 

Tho' but a little simple purse, 
For generous virtue it is given, 

It may enhance a present curse, 
It can secure a future heaven. 



Jan. 21, 1825. 



FRAGMENTS. 



SONG. 



Peeping above the mountain tops 
The rays of morn appear 3 

Sparkling melt the dewy drops 
Where roams the mountaineer. 

Spirit of the mountains misty height 

Accept our early lay j 
Spread are the wings of day for flight, 

Her thin robes flit away. 

Then raise, raise, raise 

To the spirit of the mountains grey 
The grateful song of praise, 

And away — away — 

1824. 



V 



126 



FRAGMENTS* 



STANZAS. 



Yes there are moments when the memory's eye 
May dive into the terrors of the past j 

With calmness contemplate futurity, 

And smile to blend the present with the last ; 

The young imagination joys to cast 
Itself beyond this visionary world, 

To wing its wanderings o'er the regions vast 

Of space, as restless as the ever-roving blast. 

Spotless and pure it winds its pathless way $ 
A spirit uncontroll'd, and ever free, 

Brightening on every object. Yet there may 
Be those (who wishing to conceive) gainsay 

For it doth deeply quaff philosophy 

But groaning with the galling chains of clay 

Deny such immortality to be : — 

Albeit those are thoughts confin'd to fetter'd misery. 



FRAGMENTS. 



127 



How precious is the freedom of the soul ! 

A treasure rarely consecrate on earth ; 
Fools deem it subject to the world's control — 

Let them dream on 5 or feign to scorn its worth. 
Rome* priz'd the gem — a Roman brought it forth * 

And Sparta's Lord -J- could sup with it below \ 
Egypt ador'd it \ ; and tho' clouds of mirth 
Dropp'd hatred down on virtue § — yet it blazon'd 
forth ! 

Can we behold unmov'd th' approach of Death 
With all its awful crew ? Nay, more — - 

Can we with mild assurance yield our breath, 
And fearless voyage to an unknown shore j 

The dark abyss of darker doubt explore. 
Eternity's swift vessel boldly scan ? 

This—this alone is learning to adore — 

This is that precious freedom of the mind — no more. 



* Brutus — f Leonidas — X Cleopatra, alluding to their respec- 
tive heroic actions ; for which see their lives. 

§ Socrates. This is in reference to the Play, in which So- 
crates was ridiculed by the persons, who some considerable time 
after became his accusers. 



128 



FRAGMENTS. 



But lo ! what pensive shadow proudly rears 
Its form majestic o'er what once was free ; 

Smiling with innate satisfaction at the tears 

That crirnson'd flow in seeking former years ?— 

Tis one, who lov'd them well — one, who could see 
In each bright drop reflected, what he ween'd ; 

It scans not who he was ;* but he will be 

The inspiring genius of their liberty. 

Him did they love, will ever love the same 
In memory, will mourn for him that's gone, 

Fight, tho' commanded only by a name f 
And welcome victory, or gory fame ! 

Oh ! he was one of many, in this age 

Whose falchion dipp'd it in the bloody game ; 

Forgetful of his country's idle rage 

He lov'd, and ever will be in the sacred page. 



* The reader may easily conceive the Noble Poet here alluded 
to. He occurred to me at the moment. 

f In allusion to Cimon, whose name alone gained the victory ; 
for, after his death, he was actually the means of insuring suc- 
cess, so great a dread had that general's name diffused through 
the enemy's troops. For further particulars see the life of Cimon. 



FRAGMENTS. 129 

How many deem as lost the years gone by ! 

(I am no moralizer) — yet, I ween 
Were they to linger with mortality, 

Mix'd with the ruins, many an evergreen, 
Would pier above the desolated scene, 

And force forgetfulness, perchance, to sigh ; 
There, wisdom, valour, grandeur, may be seen 
To boast in desolation what they once have been ! 

The gaudy pomps of pageantry delight 
The idle crowd ; but to the classic gaze, 

The worlds of heaven are food, when sleep and night, 
Fold half the world in fancy's mazy flight. 

Gewgaws amuse the foolish j but the true — 
Th' exalted genius asks a nobler light 

The wreck of learning awes us as we woo, 

And manly feeling loves to rev'rence that is low ! 

Corrupted taste ; — go, seek yon sacred store 
And pause to think where many a hero sleeps ! 

There, nobler parts exist, themselves no more 
Than clouded comets on a distant shore : 

There rests, o'er whom the mantling ivy creeps, 
Sages, whom now we scarcely can explore ; 

K 



130 



FRAGMENTS. 



Yet o'er their mighty dust the glow-worm sweeps, 
Lighting the shades of those for whom remembrance 
weeps ! 

Fair isle ! — behold, 'twas deatin'd thee to save 

The sons of Greece — but prudence stay'd the deed — 

They strive for freedom— find a freedman's grave, 
And yet canst thou behold the patriot bleed ! 

O ! dost thou on their glowing ashes feed, 
Nor blush that arts and science cry in vain ? 

Why do ye cultivate the living seed, 

Nor from the fulsome harvest pluck the intrusive 
weed ? 



FRAGMENTS. 



131 



fo * * * * * * * 



O yes, my love ! I will cherish thee, 
Sweet idol of my memory : 
As the ivy entwines it round the tree, 
So thou shalt embrace my fidelity. 

How blest is the spot that is call'd thy home, 

Yet far from my heart's delight I roam ; 

The world is an ocean— -a boundless sea, 

And long must I plough the rough waves for thee. 

In vain do I sigh for the moments gone by, 
Yet vainer the hope which creates that sigh ; 
For the shore of thy dwelling I've long sail'd by, 
And now grieve in the heart's fidelity. 



1824. 



132 



FRAGMENTS. 



THE BLACKSMITH'S FLAME ; 

OR, 

A WALK BY THE CHURCH AT NIGHT. 



Ah ! wherefore starts the trickling tear ; 

Why heaves within the stifled sigh ? 
A blasted flowret sleepeth here, 

A virgin's mossy couch is nigh. 

Nights' sable cloud had veil'd the sky, 
When flash'd a momentary flame : 

And on a sculptur'd stone close by, 
My eye beheld Eliza's name. 

I gaz'd upon the verdant earth 

That rose above the sleeper's rest ; 

A tear assur'd me of her worth, 
And memory told me she was blest. 

I gaz'd again — the flame was gone — 
The gazer turn'd him from the stone. 

March 1824. 



FRAGMENTS. 133 



WRITTEN ON THE 2d op AUGUST. 



TO A FRIEND. 

Let jolly mirth and pleasure gay 
Imbibed in every heart be found j 

Hence gnawing daemon Care away, 
And welcome sprightly Bacchus round. 

In the bright bumper thou shalt sleep ; 

In Lethe's stream to-day be drown'd 
The past, the present now shall steep, 

And friendship with a wreath be crown'd. 



J34 



FRAGMENTS. 



FRAGMENT. 



Part we must— perchance for ever 
Summer pleasures, pure and true ; 

Parting, we, mayhap, may never 
Break the syren spell — Adieu. 

The genial joys of June are past, 

The hoary sire is come at last 

With snow, and hail, and whistling blast 

Sweet no more the matin note 
Of vocal songster rends the sky ; 

Clos'd the little warblers' throat, 
Untun'd for sweetest melody. 

How oft the cool retreat we sought, 
Where nature's fancy pencil wrought 

Diversity of shade 
Tracing with contemplative eye 
The water bubbles purling by 

In murmurs thro' the shade. 



December 1824. 



FRAGMENTS. 



TO A BUTTERFLY. 



Farewell forgetful, faithless thing — 
The thoughtless insect of a day ; 

For ever busy on the wing 
For nought — but to entice away. 

Pleas'd with the warmth of lively spring, 
On every flower thou joy'st to rove j 

And oh ! forgetful faithless thing, 
Dost steal the very life of love. 

Ah, fool ! by friendships' dazzling light, 
A victim prone to every sigh — 

For lo ! the butterfly her flight 
Has wafted on inconstancy. 



Oct. 1824. 



FRAGMENTS. 



WOMAN. 



There's a watery magic in woman's eye, 
An innocent sparkling witchery. 
That asks for love yet would be shy ! 

There's a spirit of friendship breathing there, 
Where the clustering locks of auburn hair, 
Carelessly float o'er a forehead fair ! 

There's a pouting ruby lip of red, 
Whose nectar the bee would freely wed. 

And this is all of our of kiudred clay, 
The sweets so soon to pass away ! 

Oh no ! — there's a something we do not see, 
A clouded spark of divinity ; 
That pleasure and happiness can impart — 
A woman's affectionate faithful heart ! 



FRAGMENTS. 



137 



ODE XXXII. BOOK I. — Horace, 

TRANSLATED. 



TO HIS LYRE. 
Shaded from the heat of day, 
Have we tun'd the lively lay, 
In the future page of fame, 
Worthy an immortal name ; 
Come and praise my native lyre 
(Glowing with the Grecian fire) 
Who could sing the god of wine, 
Venus, and the jocund Nine $ 
The favour' d boy with jetty eye, 
And locks of sable glossy dye 5 
Or the ocean's briny tide, 
Ceas'd to wash the vessels side j 
Or the bright and gleaming sword 
Ceas'd to stain its warlike lord. 
Pride of Phoebus, who dost prove 
Agreeable at the feasts of Jove, 
Sweet relief, when cares prevail, 
Or toils or bitter thoughts assail > 
Aid me and propitious be, 
Whene'er a worthy votary. 



FRAGMENTS. 



ON A 

RINGLET OF HAIR. 



Tell me, little ringlet, why 

So creative of a sigh, 

When I gaze upon this hair ? 

Once it grac'd a pretty fair — 

Gentle Hebe, prithee, why, 

So susceptive of a sigh 

When I deign to look on thee ? 

Tis old churlish memory — 

The father of old hoary care, 

And melancholy dark despair. 

For blue-eyed Hope that deems not nigh 

The cloud which often dims the sky ; 

And sportive Love that soars on high, 

And warms to glowing ecstasy, 

Are gone — yea — gone for ever, 

And she is false — and never, never 



FRAGMENTS. 



Can a heart so warm — so true, 
Gaze with the same delight on you 
For she has wing'd a distant flight, 
And bid to every care good night. 
Then ask no more or when, or why 
The bright tear sparkles in the eye 
But think on — fidelity. 



Oct. 1824. 



140 



FRAGMENTS. 



ON THE 

FACE OF A WATCH. 



How small a thing ! 

And yet for ever on the wing, 

Busy as a bee : 

Flying unconscious to eternity 
O'er varied time, 
And many a clime, 

Thy golden fangs the truant oft do play, 

Killing the pleasures of the swift-pac'd day; 

The silent night, 

With all its treasures, 

Is put to flight by thy unpleasing measures : 

Yet welcome ever-changing rolling eye — 

Times' speaking mirror of eternity ! 



FRAGMENTS. 



ON LEAVING NEWNHAM, 
(the seat of lord harcourt.) 



Farewell enchanting lovely scene ! 
Farewell thou dark luxurious grove ! 
Fades on mine eye the daisied green, 
The paths thro' which I joy'd to rove ; 
And sigh'd, or deem'd I sigh'd for love. 
For there the. glossy hazel grew, 
And pleasant was the rural shade : 
Whilst o'er the scene the Aspiu threw 
Its rustling murmurs to the glade. 
It seem'd as tho' for bliss 'twas made j — 
And perfum'd was the mossy road 
That wound its secret track along, 
And oft' arose the sweet abode, 
Secluded from the curious throng. 
The luscious woodbine peeping, spread 
Its fragrance o'er the rural shed j 



142 



FRAGMENTS. 



Around the wanton ivy twin'd, 
In wildest playfulness combin'd 
To bury in its deep recess 
A seat, for virtuous faithfulness. 

Here,, thought and meditation might retire, 
In quiet, from the haunts of care ;— 

And dedicate their wild poetic fire 

To the deep silence of the fragrant air ! 
The pensive mourner here might rove, 
And welcome thoughts — e'en thoughts of 
Tears might escape, for hope gone by — 

And yield the heart relief : 
And anguish free the secret sigh 
That chain'd him to his grief ; 

For, save the drooping cypress tree, 

He might cherish his sorrow alone and free. 



FRAGMENTS. 



ON SEEING Mr. YOUNG, 

AS HAMLET. 



There dwelt a seeming sorrow in his eye 

Betraying inward agony — 

Aij.d oft times o'er his cheek would flush 

Pallid with grief, the hectic blush j 

He burst at last the . spell which bound his tongue, 

When he found those he lov'd not, fled — 

For memory regarded but the dead. 

Unconscious of the lighted world around. 

But, when he gave to utterance what woo'd 

The reasoning of his soul, 

Which, as his passion, glow'd j 

The minds of stilly hundreds flow'd 

Slaves of that eloquent controul 



144 



FRAGMENTS. 



Which bound the sense enthrall'd ! 

Yet, once that voice, more exquisite than ever, 

Drew pity and appall'd — 

When death around, doom'd the crack'd heart to sever ! 
All this was but the magic of a thought 
Working in his high forehead j — all that wrought 
So great a change in nature, and in Young ! 



FRAGMENTS. 



ON THE DEATH 

OF A 

YOUNG LADY. 



The glossy auburn still is seen — 

The marble forehead peeps between — ■ 

The curling lash — the vein of blue — 

The roseate softness yet is true; — 

The ruby lip awakens bliss, 

And seems to ask the father's kiss. 

But all is silent! — all is cold ! — 

How like the marble we behold ! — 

Perchance, a Grecian sculptor's knife 

Has struck this more than cheat of life 

Oh no ! alas ! that snowy breast, 

Where lately innocence resided, 

Is lovely in its last sad rest, 

Tho' life and beauty are divided. 

L 



]46 



FRAGMENTS. 



Then flow thou sympathetic tear 

And glitter on a sister's bier. 

For, seal'd in death the roving eye, 
So bright — so innocently shy — 
No longer charms to ecstacy. 
The voice of melody so clear, 
No more will lull the ravish'd ear :— 
The lyres' once enchanting tone 
Is lost— for it is left alone. 
But tell me, envied of the dead, 
Say, whither is thy spirit fled } — 
Does she wing a lonely flight 
Sailing in the robes of night > 
Does she on the whiten'd foam 
Of the ocean's bosom roam ? — 
Does she wrap her in a shroud 
Of the morning's dappled cloud ? — 
Spirit, whither dost thou fly ? — 

In the realms beyond the sky.— 
From corruption early riven, 
To enjoy an earlier heaven !— 



Feb. 15, 1825. 



FRAGMENTS. 



147 



AN OLD OAK. 



How well thy years become thee hoary sire ! 

The howling tempest thou bast oft defied j 

And the fierce floods their gurgling pow'rs have plied 

Beneath in vain. — The bright electric fire 

(Heaven's lighted anger) sporting far and wide, 

Has glisten'd o'er thy proud aspiring form, 

Firm and uushaken in the whirlwinds storm. 

Thy russet locks, which often in the gale 

Have murmuring wanton'd, many a tale 

Of innocent affection could decide. — 

But, Oh ! how chang'd of late, who didst, defy 

Th' opposing elements ! — the same man fares ! — 

A wither'd body, and a few grey hairs 

Alone survive, to speak his destiny. 



March 6, 1825. 



148 



FRAGMENTS. 



SLEEP. 



Sweet, sweet delusion of life's fitful game ! 

Oh ! it is pleasant to relieve awhile 

In thy enchanted bowers, and beguile 

The wearied sense. Yet, still thou art the same j 

A dream created dream, — where weary fame, 

And air-born hope, and loves ecstatic smile. — 

So various are thy scenes, we might compile 

A third and lively picture of the same. 

Oft have I courted thee and sought to wed 

Thy sisterhood, and mockery of the dead. 

Thou art a Camer' Obscura, — where we find 

Deceit, and joy, and misery assailing ; 

Hope, fear, love, hate j — the children of the mind ! 

Each, more or less, alternately prevailing. 



FRAGMENTS. 



149 



ON SEEING A YOUNG FRIEND ATTENTIVELY 
GAZING ON A PICTURE OF 

LORD BYRON. 



Immortal Poet ! — Spirit of the lyre ! — 
Well the young eye may love to dwell on thee 
The spring of such enchanting minstrelsy. 
My humble pen to laud thee would aspire, 
But, that thon art a self-created fire — 
A night star, — shining o'er thy destiny. 
Thou hast forsaken thy poor wretched spot 
Of human greatness — not to be forgot ; 
Thy nobler part, deep drawn philosophy ! 
The inmate of that high and pallid front, 
Where the combin'd and glossy curl was wont 
To play — the seat of heaven born poetry. 
Thy genius, like a spirit-working spell 
Chain' d to fame's base, with us shall ever dwell. 

1825. 



150 



FRAGMENTS. 



TO THE MEMORY OF 
KIRKE WHITE. 



Stranger, forbear to pass regardless by — 
O ! moisten with a tear this rising earth, 

Sacred to genius and to poetry : 

A humble tribute to a man of worth. 

While recollection ponders o'er the stone 
Where youthful greatness fills a narrow span, 

May admiration weave a wreath for one 
Who was a poet — but, alas ! a man. 

For him the Muses rang'd the fields of thought, 
And cull'd the choicest flowers for his mind: 
Sweet was the varied poesy they wrought, 
For poetry and harmony combin'd. — 

Seek for no more — for little it implies — 
The knowledge of the future is not given : — 

Enough — that virtue bore him to the skies, 
And bade the blossom flourish long in heaven. 

Aprilb, 1825. 



